Hey — It’s Toffer.
I have the ability to travel back in time. It’s not as glamorous as you think. For one, I can only revisit times I remember experiencing. The 70s are an unfortunate impossibility, the 80s are blurry because I was barely 10, which leaves me with the 90s up to yesterday to explore.
To avoid messing up history (you know, that whole butterfly effect thing), I'm only allowed to watch, not touch. The moment I do something that could possibly alter history, I'm sent back to the present. This means I can't change answers on failed pop quizzes, ace long tests I once bombed, or undo decisions that made me look like a fool. But I can replay the day I got accepted to my dream school, celebrate my favorite birthdays a hundred times over, or relive the moment I met my wife.
They may not seem like much, but here are the lessons I've learned in my travels.
Estimated read time: 5 minutes
Being present
This is the most practical lesson because it helps me remember moments vividly. If I'm not present, I can't go back to that time. I've learned that dwelling on past regrets or fixating on future anxieties makes moments blurry and hard to revisit.
I've also discovered the power of acceptance. It's been a game-changer. Instead of always trying to fix things, I've learned to just be okay with what is. It's like finding a quiet spot in my mind where I can just chill and see things clearly. This helps me bring back memories more easily.
Bad days are fun
I've discovered that bad days can be fun the second time around. They provide an opportunity to see the lighter side of things. I'm talking about days that are bad but not terrible — those lukewarm, annoying kind of days that I could actually make worse if I replayed them exactly. To make these replays fun, I had to change how I looked at them. I figured out that reliving a crappy day is only a bummer if I let it get to me, but it can be pretty funny if I look at it the right way.
Boring is good
Going back in time may seem boring because you know the ending. But it’s like rewatching favorite movies — it’s not really about the ending. It’s the nuances and insights that make it interesting. Going back actually cultivated my patience. I learned that patience is not merely waiting; it is an active process of growth and understanding. I actually like going back to the boring stuff that led to my big wins. It's cool to see how all those little steps added up.
Over-thank
Overthinking used to be my prerequisite to everything. But going back taught me that moments of overthinking actually has little to no value to the final decision made. So I learned to replace it with over-thanking instead. I now start past and present journeys over-thanking the ordinary, and believe me, it makes all the difference.
Your Friend in Time,
Toffer
