Time Travel
Let’s put aside all of the theories about creating a paradox if you were to meet yourself and think about what the conversation would be like. If you could talk to your younger self, what would you say? I would expect that you would be offerings lots of advice, especially to help get through those awkward teen years. What kind of advice would you be giving yourself and at what age? Think of it this way, what would you change if you could? If you were an introvert, perhaps you would be saying to your younger self to make an effort to make more friends. Maybe there are classes you wish you would have taken, like shop class. Would you tell your younger self to take that class?
I realize that all the things that have taken place in your life to date have brought you to the place you are now. But if there was something you could change without totally disrupting the timeline, what would it be? It’s an interesting thought, isn’t it?
Yeah, my husband and I went to see Looper yesterday. It was really good. And it got me thinking… If I had made different choices, where would I be today? Remember the movie ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and how he got to see what the world would be like without him in it? I am thinking something like that. You would still be born, but you would make different choices. How would that effect you and everyone around you?
Would you want to be what you are now, or would you end up being something totally different? A member of a band. A singer. A nurse. Here is another thought… It’s not too late to be what you wanted to be. You can’t change the timeline, but you can change what lies ahead by the choices you make today.
Did you grow up to be what you wanted to be? Is there anything you would have changed? Is there something you would change now so that the future looks different?
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That must have been a blast.
Boy that's a loaded question for me. I always dreamed of being a teacher for as long as I could remember. I became one, only to find out It was very difficult to earn and adequate living (at least at that time). I then went into sales and learned that once a teacher always a teacher. Fast forward to today, and I am still teaching today with my stories. 🙂
Yes. And you are a wonderful teacher! You will continue to teach via our book efforts together. 🙂
Hmm . . . I often talk to my younger self in my mind, and really I realize I'm also talking to my more vulnerable self. If I could go back in time and talk to myself at say, the age of seventeen, I would have told myself to stay home and research what it is I want to do with my life. I would have told myself not to be afraid of anything and to take chances. You may think I took chances: I joined the Air Force right after high school. But I did that because I didn't have money to go to college and because I didn't know what else to do and I just wanted to get away from home. I also did it because I knew they would tell me what to do. And I thought I needed that back then. But I should have taken charge of my own life, even if that meant staying at home for a bit to figure out what I should do. That's what I would have told me back then. 🙂
Sounds like you are taking some of that advice now. Better late than never and I know you can do it! 🙂
i think about this kind of stuff a lot and would definitely like to have a conversation with my younger self. there are distinct moments where i made deliberately dumb choices that hampered my career life. i was in the right place at the right time for several big ideas for the internet and didn't follow through. it's not like i kick myself about it, but wonder how things would've changed.
I can think of some moments like that myself. It's the woulda coulda shoulda thing… 🙂
It's funny when I tell my kids ALL of things I wanted to be and got to do them to some extent. You're absolutely right in saying it's not too late to walk that path you thought you passed long ago – just don't take the shortcut!
Shortcuts can be messy… LOL
This post reminds me a bit of the book The Time Traveler's Wife since the main character often gets to visit his past, present, and future self. I wanted to be a writer since before I could even read. Stories were my life and still are. I ended up becoming a teacher because once reality set in being a writer didn't seem attainable. I wish I would have gotten a Ph.D. in Literature or Rhetoric and Composition rather than a master's in English Education. If I could go back further in time, knowing what I know now, I would work on giving myself permission to write even when life got to overwhelming or distracting. I would also research careers and salaries a bit more since teachers still make so much less compared to other professions! Plus I would probably study web design or graphic arts. Who knows? I'm still in the process of becoming. We all are.I just don't think I want to go back to school.
This desire is something we share then. I have wanted to write since the day I knew what it was. Because writing was not 'practical' nothing ever came of it. Because it is never too late to go after that dream I am now starting down that path. I do not want to go back to school either and I don't think I will need to.