Always wishing for time travel

Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward. Soren Kierkegaard

Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish Philosopher. Much of his work dealt with the importance of personal choice and commitment. That being said, this quote from him holds a lot of meaning. Are not our lives a series of personal choices defined by the kind of commitment we make to those choices? I have always been fascinated by the concept of time travel, quite possibly because so many of my personal life choices have not turned out so great, in spite of the commitment I made to them. The frustrating paradox of time travel, however, is the question of, would making different choices really make things better? Or, would I find myself 30 years into an alternate future looking back and once again wishing I could do it over again. We buy a car, a washing machine, a computer or any other number of meaningless things and they come with a guarantee, and in fact for a small additional fee we can purchase an extension of that guarantee to insure that in the future that appliance will cause us no real grief. If only life could come with such guarantees. But, unfortunately the one thing that is the most important and bears the most value, our very lives, comes with no guarantees. Funny thing though, the quote says life can be understood backwards, and so, the importance of studying history. Sadly, most people forget to consult the past before trudging forward into the future. I suppose I could exhaust a lot of energy wishing I had done things differently and wondering if I could have saved myself some pain. But in the process of protecting myself, what joys and pleasures would I have also missed? As a teenager I broke my leg on the slide at girls' camp. This slide was legendary and was constructed down the side of a mountain. One particular summer we decided to slide down on pieces of wax paper to make it faster. For a few shorts moments, I felt the air rush past my face and through my hair. My heart raced and I squealed with utter delight as I flew like a rocket down that mountain. Yes, I snapped my ankle and it hurt and I limped around for awhile, but eventually the pain went away and the limp went away. But, the thrill of the ride is still lodged securely in my memory and what a thrill I would have missed if I had changed that moment when I plopped on that piece of wax paper and rocketed down the mountain. I suppose in the end I have to conclude, that there are a few simple facts that help us to make the best decisions we can based on the information we have available, and then we live with them. These facts are as follows: (1) Never lie. Except when someone's feelings are at stake, such as, "do these pants make my butt look big?" Then the art of complimentary embellishment is essential. (2) If it's not yours, don't touch it. My kids will attest to the importance of this statement. It was our family creed forever. (3) Be kind. No matter what the circumstances, there is no excuse to return unkindness with more unkindness. Besides, when someone has just treated you unkindly, smile and say something nice...it will freak them out. (4)Find joy in your work, whatever it may be. Beyond that, we can't help when other people lie to us, or steal from us, or hurt us to protect or promote themselves. Someday, someone you thought was your friend might hurt you. Someone you once loved might stop loving you, or maybe you will discover they never really did love you. But, if you don't take the risk of making a mistake, you may never find that someone does love you, that some people don't lie, and there is nothing so valuable as a true friend. However, if we choose to follow the steps mentioned above, we can always love ourselves, guaranteed!

So, fear not the future. Forge on. Don't be shackled by the fear of failure or of making a mistake. History is full of them. That's what makes an interesting read. May our lives be full of history and living, not just being alive.