Congrats! You’re the owner of a new time machine. The catch? It comes in two models, each traveling one way only: the past OR the future. Which do you choose, and why?
You can’t move forward by looking backwards. It is for this reason that I would choose the time machine model that travels into the future. The future is full of excitement and anticipation. The more we plan our future, the more it is created rather than something that just happens to us.
I would like my time machine to take me to my future where my book on eating disorder recovery has been published and is available for purchase—hopefully either 2015 or early 2016. How well is it received? What are people saying about it? Does the general population find it as helpful as early feedback from people living with an eating disorder found it? Are any changes required? Does anything need to be done differently? How am I and my family coping with the pressures of being a published author? These are all questions that if answered by travelling to my future would allow me to make my book and my life even better.
However, the time machine doesn’t fix any of these problems. It will only highlight them. I may still choose to leave things as they are and go with the flow seeing where the journey takes me. Just because the time machine has shown me a potential problem, doesn’t mean I must react to it and change it immediately. My choice would be to response to any changes necessary—with thought and consideration.
I see the time machine as a tool, not a director issuing instructions.