If You Could Change the Past, Would You?

Everyone has a “what if” story. What if I had said “this?” What if I had done “this?” What if I had taken “this” chance? What if I had made “this” decision? Everyone has these scenarios running in their heads based on the past. No one has ever made every “perfect” decision. Everyone has questions about their past. Everyone wonders how their life would be different if they had done “that” one thing differently. If you sit down and think about your own life, you probably have more than a handful of missed opportunities, wrong turns taken, poor usage of words— or lack of words, or moments of inaction that if given the chance, you would change. But life is not lived in the past. Life is lived in the present and in preparation for the future. What has happened is done. You cannot change it. The past is the past.

Given the hypothetical scenario, if you could change your past, would you? This idea is interesting because depending on the regret you have about the path of your life, you may have the instant reaction to say “yes” and opt to change the past. If you dissect this idea you will understand that where you are today in life is exactly and precisely based on the sum of all of the decisions you have made up this point.

“The quality of life that we experience is the sum of the quality of the decisions we made leading up to that point. Quality being good or bad.”

Every decision, good or bad, has brought you to where you are today. Sometimes the bad decisions you made lead you to a higher quality of life. Sometimes it takes a wrong turn to find the right turn. Sometimes it takes the wrong turn forcing you to trudge through the mud, through the off-road path, to overcome and find the courage to find the more fulfilling point of life.

If you could change your past, who knows where you would end up. Since every decision has brought you to where you are today, changing one decision could dramatically alter not only the life you live today but also the person you are today. Many people believe the hardships of life mold you to become the person you want to be. If you could remove those hardships, what parts of you would be left? Would you like who you are without the journey you have already walked being a part of you? Have the courage to keep going. Have the courage to not live in the past. Have the courage to accept the past as part of you and to move on to what’s in front of you. Have the courage to continue living your life. If you could change the past, would you?