I just finished rewatching one of my favorite movies, It’s About Time. It’s not ruining the plot to tell you it’s about a man who has the ability to travel back in time, but only to moments of his life that he’s already lived.
What if you had an opportunity to relive any day in your life? Or to undo any moment?
What would you relive or change?
Of course, my first thought after being at home for the past month waiting for the foot I broke to heal is, “I would skip rugby or I would have stayed on the sidelines cheering, or I would have skipped the drill after noticing and pointing out that the turf was slippery and dangerous.”
But I can’t travel back in time like Tim’s character can in the movie.
Hindsight is 20/20
We all have moments we wish we could relive because they were that incandescent, such as the sunrise I saw while crossing the Sea of Cortez on a sailboat.
One of the most magnificent sunrises of my life | Photo by Don Laverty
And moments where we wish we had said or done something different. The movie is a great look into the things in life we can change, and the things, that no matter how smart or how great our powers may be, that we are powerless to shift.
We are all travelers in time.
We may not be time travelers, but we are all travelers in time. It’s our choice whether we make the most of the days we’re given or we waste them on petty minutia. My favorite line in the movie is about him choosing to live his “extraordinary ordinary” life.
A gift in having a broken foot is that it’s given me a lot of time — time to think, time to reflect, time to rest, and at times (pun intended) the opportunity to take daily tasks such as showering or encountering squatter-only toilets painstakingingly slow.
It’s also given me an appreciation for how many moments pass in a given day, and I don’t give them a second thought — running down the stairs, grabbing a quick coffee, jumping out of bed to eagerly greet a friend at the door when I hear a knock. Going out into the world unhindered and usually on a very fast, beautiful bike named 宝贝 (bao bei)。
When I’m walking again, I promise to appreciate the simple joy of putting one foot in front of the other.
Gifts in the Now
Even in my current situation, there is beauty. An open window with sunshine. Watching the season change from my window. Listening to hours of music. Updating the blog, which is something I’ve wanted to do for 5 years and just never made the time.
The most important gift — by far — has been the people. Having dear friends generously come to check-in on me and to help me around the house has meant so much. In the past month, I’ve had two friends make me home-cooked sit-down meals at my dinner table. I can’t even remember the last time I ate there.
The Time is Now
The only moment we’re truly ever guaranteed in this one right now, so enjoy it. Do something with it. Actually live it.
It seems fitting to conclude with one of my all-time favorite quotes from Star Trek:
“Someone once told me that time was a predator that stalked us all our lives, but I rather believe that time is a companion who goes with us on the journey and reminds us to cherish every moment because they’ll never come again. What we leave behind is not as important in how we’ve lived.”