I'm a big Stephen King fan.
I have read the entire Dark Tower series, It, The Shining, Doctor Sleep, and my favorite movie of all time is based on his novel, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
So, at the behest of many friends who told me it was their favorite book, I am finally here Yeshe began to read 11/22/63Yes.
Here's the head-exploding concept:
On November 22, 1963, three shots went off in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed.
What if you could change it back?
Stephen King's impressive new novel about a man who travels back in time to prevent the assassination of JFK is a thousand page tour de force.
Like all good nerds, I have devoted too much brain power to hypothetical time travel, the butterfly effect, and changing the past. I bet yours is too.
Time travel is an attractive idea because our brains can't help but think of “the road less traveled” and “what if I had done X instead of Y?”
Which brings me to the topic of today's newsletter.
Accepting that some routes are closed is very cheap.
Some routes are closed
My friend Tim Urban over at YesWaitButWhy.comYes lay out this graph of the life choices we've made up to today, and the branching paths open to us tomorrow:
It's very easy for our brains to focus too much on all the black lines in the past: the paths we closed, the decisions we didn't make, the decisions we did make and how our lives often feel “authentic” right now.
“Because of how I've done this in the past, that's just the way things are. “
“It's a shame I never did XYZ, now it's too late. I am so sorry!”
“I don't deserve to be happy with this mistake I made. “
We often forget that it is only possible to connect the dots of our lives looking back, in which we made every decision with the best information we had at the time.
(If you're looking for a solid read, read Matt Haig YesThe Midnight LibraryYes is an interesting fictional story about alternative ways of life and acceptance. Haig draws from the past Yesalmost decided to take his own lifeYes.)
So let's talk a little bit about those black lines and those green opportunities.
Some routes may be closed!
I bring all this stuff up to make two points.
Author Chris Guillbeau, who greatly inspired my love of travel and influenced how I built Nerd Fitness, recently posted an essay about Yesindicating closed doorsYes.
We've all heard the stories about people who start certain careers later in life.
An example would be, “It's never too late! Samuel L. Jackson didn't get his breakout role in 'Pulp Fiction' until age 46.”
And Chris says sometimes it's too late…
While these stories are inspiring, the lesson of “it's never too late” is not universal. Sometimes it's too late! To believe otherwise is to believe in fantasy.
Some things in life have real dates – not all, but some.
In other words, sometimes we often hold on to something that we know we will eventually do “someday,” and we may refuse to accept the fact that…yeah , it's too late.
Maybe we hold on to the hope that we will eventually run a marathon…even if we hate running.
Maybe we keep hoping we're going to write that cookbook…even if we don't like cooking anymore.
Perhaps we can conclude that several paths are closed to us. We can accept this.
The future is not set in stone either
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how YesThe past is not set in stoneYesbecause our understanding of the story changes.
It's okay to accept that maybe a dream we had in our 20s is okay to die.
However, it is equally difficult to accept that it is “too late” to make any changes in our future, and that it has already been determined.
Betrand Russel once said “You don't have to be who you were five minutes ago.”
As Chris says:
“It's never too late” for a lot of things, and that's great. But sometimes it is, and that's okay.
It's never too late to learn something new. It's never too late to try new things.
But it might be too late for certain tracks, and that's okay.
Indeed, it is worth celebrating.
Letting go of certain paths, or accepting that certain paths may be closed to us can clear the space to make a different decision for life moving forward.
You can decide that later today to:
- start building power
- take an online class for a new career.
- try a new hobby.
- talk to your doctor about it Yeshelp lose weightYes.
We can't travel back in time to stop Kennedy's assassination.
Some paths of life are now closed to us.
Maybe that's okay!
Instead of spending more brain power regretting our closed black lanes, we can get to work on deciding what the next green step we are going to take.
-Steve
PS: Need guidance and accountability to reach your fitness goals? Nerd Fitness has helped 10,000+ people over the past 8 years with 1-on-1 online fitness coaching. YesClick here for more informationYes.
