What would you do if you were told on your 21st birthday you had the power to go back to any point in your life and change whatever you wanted? Kind of scary if you think about it, but also very intriguing. A power that lets you fix all the dumb mistakes and messes you got yourself into? Yeah, let’s do this thing!

“About Time” is centered on a young man named Tim Lake who is told by his father all the men in the family can time travel. They can’t change history, but they can change anything in their own life. To any 21-year-old man (or anyone else) this sounds awesome! He goes on to altering whatever regret in his life he chooses until it is perfect in his eyes.

As I watched this movie, I began to think of the things I would go back and change in my life, all the while keeping the lessons I’ve learned from those mistakes. What a deal, yeah?! But as the movie goes on, the message shifts. Tim soon learns while he can change anything he wants, it can come with a consequence he can’t foresee. He starts to feel discouraged with this newly found gift and resents it.

The father then reveals the true lesson learned from his own experience with time travel.

This life is all about choice and perspective.

Tim decides to use his power of time travel for something different;

“The truth is I now don't travel back at all, not even for the day, I just try to live every day as if I've deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it, as if it was the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.”

This statement, and part of the movie, hits hard every time I watch “About Time.” It instantly changes the outlook on my own life. I realized once I started looking at my life and the people around me with the perspective of choice, I was happier.

Tim looks at every day as a blessing. He looks at every circumstance with awareness that while it may suck, he can change the situations in his life just by a choice. At the end of the movie, he doesn't even use his time traveling powers because he doesn't need it. He has a better ability with less consequence. He just didn't know it yet until his mindfulness was awakened.

I learned we have to be aware of our perspective on things. We have this extraordinary ability to choose. We can choose happiness in every situation. We can choose hope amidst the tragedy. We can choose love even when we don’t feel like it.

We have the power to choose.

This is something I am still working on because it’s hard! It takes a lot of willpower to choose to be uplifting when you don’t feel like it. Our lives aren’t just meant for ourselves. We are surrounded by people we have been put on this earth to love and if we make them feel loved, a joy overcomes our life we can't explain.

It's all about perspective, people. Cherish and love the ones around you and consider yourself the luckiest no matter what.