You know those moments you wish more than anything that you could redo? Maybe you walked away from a heated argument and just minutes later thought of a better comeback than what you used. Or, maybe you wish you could rewind time to before you handed in the paper where you used "effect" instead of using "affect" (no but like seriously didn't know there was a difference why did my professor lower my grade because of that??). Or, maybe, an experience, or even just a moment was so good that you would do anything to be able to live it over and over it again; to make that amazing feeling you felt in that exact second your reality. There are a million reasons to want to go back in time, and let me tell you, I would do a whole lot to be able to do so.
Remember when school didn't cause one ounce of stress? (Yea, I don't either). But seriously, when the word "finals" wasn't even in your vocabulary and all you had to focus on was what sandwich your mom packed in your brown paper bag for lunch. Those were the days. Wouldn't it be amazing to just quickly hop back 10 years or so, to live in a time where ignorance of the real world and how tragic of a place it actually is is, in fact, the definition of bliss? On some sort of scale from one to 10, I would give being able to travel back to elementary school about a five, the playground drama was a lot to deal with.
What about the time when you peaked? I will forever think that I peaked my sophomore year of high school; I looked great, I felt great, and school hadn't become all about the future yet. While of course sophomore year wasn't all fun and games, looking at you having to take chemistry and having mono during midterms, it was filled with some fantastic memories. Plus it was a time I was with my high school friends literally every single day. What a foreign concept that feels like now. Traveling back to the peak of my high school would get about a 7.5 from me.
Now, what about the time when you were the happiest you've ever been? After much internal debate, the happiest time for me was probably during a dance show toward the end of my senior year. I was dancing and choreographing, which were things that always made happy. I was into college and was sailing through the second semester of my senior year. And I was with the best people, again my best friends from home. It wasn't sad yet; the end (graduation) didn't seem like a tangible point, it was the perfect time to be alive. By the end of the year I found myself looking around wondering how the year had possibly flown by that quickly, how was I done already with high school? Was I ready to move on? That's where I got the idea about what I would do for a time machine. At my senior recital, through my hysterics, I just kept saying "how did this happen" meaning, "I'm not ready to move on, I just want to keep living in this jubilant state." Now, of course, time doesn't care what you want, and the clock kept moving forward.
I would give a lot for a time machine. And yes I know I'm crazy and time travel isn't possible (yet) but can you blame me? The future is scary, but the past is familiar and comfortable. Change is scary. I guess the only thing to do is to take the lessons you've learned in the next chapter of your life with your head held high, and slowly just keep walking, step by step, one foot in front of the other.
