About Time

You know you have… admit it. At some point you’ve contemplated what you would do if you had access to a time machine.  It’s fun to think about.  The opportunity to avert mistakes, change bad decisions, avoid heartbreak or tragedy… it’s all too tempting.  The prospect of betting a huge payout on the underdog… buying stocks dirt cheap… and of course… that winning lottery ticket!

But have you ever really thought about the consequences?  That tangled web that would be created by your changes?  The inability to know what chain of events your changes might make on the future… would make it risky.  Would they be reversible?  Would it send you constantly back in time to change things… until you wished you’d never gone back to begin with?

Then there’s this.  The pain of having to go through inevitable events again.  Saying goodbye once more to people that you already bid farewell to.  Is that a fair trade?  More time for more hurt?   Because even if time travel were possible… averting death would not be included in that deal.

The chance to go fishing once more with my Paw Paw.  That drink that I never got to have with my Dad.  That feeling of complete and unconditional love with a hug from my Mom.  The temptation would be too much… and  I would most certainly dial up the past just to experience these things.  But at what cost?  Thankfully that’s a decision that I feel confident I will never have to make.

Time travel isn’t possible, and maybe for good reason.  How careless would we be if we always knew we had a do-over.  A free Mulligan every single time we screw up?  Moments in time are meant to be exactly that… moments in time.  So as I write this, I’m looking for my one takeaway.  That one thing that will make me publishing this actually mean something to myself… and possibly to someone reading this. 

Cherish those moments of our lives while they happen!  Learn to recognize those moments.  The past is gone and the future isn’t even here yet.  Of course our past has made us who we are… but it’s gone and not coming back.  Yes the future is important, but it’s coming regardless… and there’s nothing you can do to stop it.  Remember the past… plan for the future… but immerse yourself into the present… because it is here now… and you will never be able to visit it again.