19 Jun About time

Have you ever wished that you could go back in time? Perhaps you made a mistake and immediately wished you could `ctrl+z` and take a step back. Perhaps you were reflecting on an event that happened a few months ago, and you wished you did something differently. I remember watching a movie many, many years back. During one scene in a forest, the main character made a promise that if time travel was possible in the future, he would appear right next to himself, right here, right now, just to prove that it was possible. And he closed his eyes. When he reopened them, he was still alone. That scene stuck with me for a really long time. I then tried something similar out of boredom and sheer curiosity. Alas, I didn't appear next to myself either. But since then, I've always paid particular attention to times I wished I could go back in time. I always believed that something like that was possible though; and I felt that the reason that it failed to succeed was because I didn't try hard enough to remember the exact time and place to return to. After all, how am I supposed to remember to return to February 25, 2015, 17:52 in Taipei - _50 years from now_? I found a solution to that problem. I have a to-do list that I keep on my phone. It's synced with all my devices, and I'm pretty sure I'll never lose that list. I use it to remember all sorts of important things. On that list, I have an item titled: "**In Case of Time Travel**". In it, I list dates and events that I would have liked to return to. All in the hopes that if time travel is indeed possible some day, I could actually _remember_ to go back and change those things. In Chinese culture, people like talking about something called "緣分". In English, this is something similar to "fate" or "destiny". Attributing events and relationships to 緣分 is akin to going along with the natural flow of things, placing harmony and fate beyond the control of any single individual's actions. Lately I've been thinking about 緣分 and time travel. I have a list on my phone of events I would like to return to. But those things have already happened, and apparently they haven't changed yet. Perhaps the reason they haven't changed is because those events are no longer even important anymore in the grand scheme of things! Maybe it is because those things happened in exactly that way - that you were able to become the amazing person you are today. Even now, looking back at those events, I already feel no urgent need to return. 50 years from now, it would be even less relevant and worthwhile. Perhaps it is for this reason that those things remain forever unchanged. So I say now, no matter what happens or what you do, even if it seems like it's wrong or bad or you would very much like to do something differently, take solace in the fact that if it _really_ was such a horrible mistake, you would've come back from the future to change it. But since you didn't, know that you already made it the best it could possibly be.

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