Looking Back

Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock. That's the sound an old clock makes as time passes by; repetitive ticking followed by an even fainter tocking. Maybe you're at your job watching the clock but with every tick, the tock manages to be an eternity later. Or maybe you are hanging out with your best friend and suddenly it feels like the ticks and tocks went by so quickly. However you may experience or perceive time, it affects are life the exact same way - time makes you feel older. As you start to have the sensation of time passing by a couple thoughts may be on your mind: Did I pick the right path? Do I have any regrets?

Whenever I start to think about choosing my correct path in life I always get stopped at the idea of the "butterfly effect." This is an effect described as the possibility of a small decision at the time having an enormous impact to your future life. While the name "butterfly effect" has such a gracious name, thinking about it makes me want to hurl. Take a moment and imagine what it would be like for your parents living life before they met each other. I know it's very strange to think about.To you, you just lived - end of story. For your parents on the other hand, they most likely had thousands of decisions leading up to the moment of starting a family together.



Maybe your parents met at the book store like mine. What if my father had never walked in the store that day? Well, I most likely wouldn't be here alive. As well this butterfly effect doesn't have to only be left at the tone of your parents meeting, it could also be said for friendships. I have a friend where the sole reason I met him was because they high school we both went too offered music. What if the school didn't offer music?! What if he didn't even like music? I also have another great friend who I met only because I wanted to study Linear Algebra one day. What if I never wanted too? Small decisions in the moment don't feel like much but as your life progresses and you look back lots of those small decisions bloomed into large parts of your life.

However do not be scared about whether you've made the correct choice. Think about the billions of choices that plague the world everything day. There is no way in hell there such thing as the right path. Just go down a path as long as you enjoy it.

Regrets on the other hand - while related - are an entirely different story. In life regrets are a hard pill to swallow but they happen everyday. Sometimes there is no way to determine if you regret something until you've gotten older.

This a a very interesting video about people ages 5-75 answering what their biggest regret in life is. 

There is not that much to say on regrets other than "hind sight is 20/20," meaning that it's always easier to make decisions for your past self in the future than it is too in the moment. So next time you regret something just know that it's okay, you don't know how your future self will react.

With all that being said at the end of the day "it's all going to be okay," those are the famous words of my old high school physics teacher always said before a test. Decisions are difficult to make, there are hundreds and thousands of paths to pave. It doesn't matter how old you are right now stop and think. What would my older self regret? Think about it and start picking your path to achieve whatever it is. Whatever you pick is the correct path.


Cheers.