What Would You Do?

I was recently re-watching the always fabulous Rachel McAdams and the adorable Domhnall Gleeson in About Time, and it got me thinking, 'If I had the ability to travel back in time and fix past mistakes, would I?'.  Would you?

There's a lot of talk about acceptance in self help and spiritual circles.  Phrases like 'everything happens for a reason' and 'there are no mistakes' get tossed around.  If you're highly enlightened you're supposed to be mindful and present and let go of the past.  I often hear people say their mistakes led them to where they are now so they wouldn't change a thing.  But you know what, I don't think I buy into all that. 

I will concede that you often learn from your mistakes, but do I think I would leave ALL of the mistakes from my past untouched, if I had the chance for a "redo"?  Nope.  No I don't.  Sometimes you just simply say or do the wrong thing, and who wouldn't want to take back those idiotic moments of their life?  I will also concede that hindsight gives you the advantage of wisdom that you may not have had when you were smack dab in the middle of a decision.  But, I also personally think that I knew I was making wrong choices at times, and did so out of convenience/stubbornness/choosing the path of least resistance. 

Perhaps I'm saying all this because I don't feel I'm "there" yet, wherever that may be.  And maybe those who say they wouldn't undo anything from the past feel they are "there", and it was the sum total of every choice they ever made that brought them to that happy place. 

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I'm not saying I'd like to rewrite my entire history, but if someone handed me the keys to a 1985 DeLorean equipped with a fully functioning flux capacitor, I wouldn't turn it down!  There are many little things I wish I could un-say or un-do and there are also a few pivotal moments that I'd love to go back to and make a different choice to see how it affects the present.  Kind of like a real life Choose Your Own Adventure (remember those books?!) or 13 Going on 30. 

Well, if you've made it this far and you're still thinking, 'Nope, I wouldn't change a thing', then let me throw a little challenge your way.  Watch this video and if you make it through the entire thing and don't want those 2 minutes and 40 seconds of your life back afterward, well then, YOU WIN my friend! 

 

 

 

In all seriousness though, what you would do if given the gift of time travel?  Use it or lose it?

A New Perspective

Sometimes a change in scenery is all it takes to change your mind. 

Do you ever find that when you step out of your daily routine, out of your comfort zone, or when you are in new surroundings, your thinking also changes?  I think many times the comfort of our daily schedules and rituals can also keep our brains on an endless loop - like a record that plays the same song over and over.  You desperately need the needle to skip or jump a little to get to the next song and getting away from everything that is familiar is sometimes the only way to get that push.

There are certain things I think about more often than I'd like to admit (and def won't be admitting what they are here!), and I tend to come to the same conclusions about these matters of the heart time after time.  Sometimes it is so so hard to get outside your own head and realize that your thoughts are NOT reality.  You create 'reality' with your thinking, and if you can change your thinking, then you will change your reality!  Easier said than done though right?

For some reason, right before I left for vacation last week, I was hit with a killer wave of nostalgia.  I honestly don't know what brought it on, but there were certain little reminders here and there (down to the cookies they served us on the flight!) that kept bringing me back to a certain time in my life and it was making me really sad.  There were also other big life decisions I had been ruminating on for weeks that I just couldn't seem to make any headway with.

Now, I'm not going to say that everything changed in a week or that I now have the next 10 years of my life planned out, but I started to see that there are definitely other versions of 'reality' that are just as possible as the ones I play out in my head. 

One of the things that helped me gain some new perspective was being amongst so many different, new people, from across the country - from Las Vegas to NY and everywhere in between - from so many different walks of life.  They all had stories that were so different from mine.  This is one of the reasons I love travel - either locally or abroad.  I think meeting different people is key to my development as a human.  Time and again it shows me that my way isn't the only way, and opens me to different points of view.  There are a million different ways to live and its so interesting to see how each person chooses their path.

Another thing that really struck me happened as I was signing the reunion memory book.  Someone had started a page of quotes and one of the scribbled lines read "Just let it go".  Ahh!  Even though I'd been humming that song for months (thanks babysitting charges), I never actually followed the imperative.  But for some reason, while in Missouri, I decided to just let a few things go.  With so many memories tied up in Baltimore, it was like I physically could not let some things go here - they felt anchored to this place and could only be freed somewhere new.

I also believe spending time with my sister and her family helped.  My day-to-day life involves me, Party of One, and while this is ok (for now), it's nice to be surrounded by people I love and who love me and feel that connection.  Sure I have friends, but not having family or a significant other around to share in every day living can make me feel really alone at times, and keeps my brain on that single, endless track.

And lastly, I absolutely believe in the healing power of nature, and the importance of connecting with that source as much as possible. 

Anyway, I feel like some things have changed for me in those neurons firing inside my head and I know it had to do with a change in my environment.  I hadn't taken a single vacation day all year to this point and it was definitely something I needed.  I truly enjoy my job these days, but I just needed some time away from the familiar to rewire the ol brain, and it worked.  I even wrote out a physical 'To-Do' list, something I haven't done in months, and already started crossing things off.  Here's to new realities...

 

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I realize this post probably meant nothing to anyone but me and I'm sorry for being so vague!  Thanks for letting me clear my head and reading anyway :)



Does travel ever change your perspective?

What else do you do to change your thinking when you are really stuck on something?