The Past is Another Country

I have never understood why people would want to relive part of their lives. It’s an idea that has so many problems. Let’s take them one by one.

First problem – Are you reliving this year with all the knowledge that you have now or simply being thrown back to the same time with the knowledge you had then? If it’s the first, you would be very tempted to change things. If it’s the second you would simply make the same mistakes and the whole thing would be a waste of time.

Second problem – If you do have knowledge of how things turned out, what would you do about it? Would you kiss that person you always wanted to? Would you take pre-emptive revenge on someone who made your life a misery? Would you do a Biff Tannen and use your knowledge of sports to build up a fortune? Depending on which year you chose, you might end up doing all three. I certainly would!

Third problem – Let’s say yes to the second problem and see where that takes us. You come back to the present and it’s a completely different present to the one you were in before. You have done different things and the world around you has changed irrevocably. Maybe you are married to the same person, except you would almost certainly have changed them in ways you can’t understand. You might have missed out on all the things that you value because you wanted to make things better.

The Solution – Charles Dickens had it right in A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge could see his previous Christmases but only as an observer. He couldn’t change anything but he could learn from it. I would love to relive times from my life that way. Well, of course, I do that already as does everyone else. We reflect on things we have done, both good and bad, and try to repeat the first and avoid the second. When we look at a picture, when we talk to people about the ‘old days’, when we hear a song or when we watch a film or TV programme, we are back in those times. I have very fond memories of some years of my life – with, for example, 1975 being one and 1987 being another. I can travel back to those years in my head. Would I want to travel back in person? No way!