Time

Billy Joel's "Vienna" captures the mood of the following pretty well, I think.

I find myself thinking about time a lot, which ironically enough, you could say is a waste of time. Alternate realities, parallel universes, things of that nature. If I had only done _______ differently, I could be a different person right now. It's not because I'm not happy with the person I am in this reality, it's just that it's fun to wonder sometimes. I bought a book called "The Time Paradox" by Philip Zimbardo, and it has me analyzing my time perspective. There's past negative, past positive, present hedonistic, present fatalistic, and future. I rated highest on past positive, followed by present hedonistic, future and ranked lowest on past negative and present fatalistic. All in all a decently healthy perspective...or is it?  If you'd like to see where you rank, go to http://www.thetimeparadox.com/zimbardo-time-perspective-inventory/

Anyway, that's me. I look back and think about everything that went right, then I live in the moment, if it feels good do it, then I think about what's going to happen in the future later and maybe that paints some of my past experiences in a negative light but then the oh well, there's nothing I can do about it now fatalism comes into play. 

Dumbledore says, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." I am a dreamer by nature and that is something I find myself remembering from time to time when I get lost in all the infinite possibilities of what could be or could have been. 

I think my point here is that there needs to be a balance. It's wonderful to dream, but don't let dreaming paralyze you from living in the reality that everything you really have experienced has led you to. Do the best you can with what you have and if that doesn't work, try something else. You'll never truly know until it happens. And nothing ever happens when you just sit around and dream. Don't get lost in all the what-ifs and might've beens. I'm a believer in alternate realities. A place in time exists for every possible outcome for every single decision we're ever faced with. But how daunting is that to think about? And why should we spend our time thinking about places in time where we'll never be welcome? After all, we chose something different. And that's why we're here. 

I'm more so a believer in the cliche that everything happens for a reason. Cliches come to be because they stem from truth. We just get tired of hearing them. That phrase sucks sometimes, but there are always lessons to be learned from every situation we find ourselves in. Lessons about ourselves, others, what we want out of life, what we don't, and why the fuck we're right here right now. It all means something and it's all part of some plan that's beyond our current capacity of understanding. 

So dream on, friends. But don't forget where you came from and where you want to go. You'll get there eventually. Until then, just enjoy the journey. 

Peace and love to all.