I’m a big fan of Stephen King.
I have read the entire Dark Tower Series, It, The Shining, Doctor Sleep, and my favorite movie is based on his novella, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption.
So, at the behest of many friends who told me this was their favorite book, finally Thestarted reading 11/22/63The.
Here’s the explosive premise:
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed.
What if you could change it back?
Stephen King’s heart-wrenching dramatic new novel is about a man who travels back in time to prevent the assassination of JFK—a thousand-page tour de force.
Like any good nerd, I devoted a lot of brain power to hypothetical time-travel, the butterfly effect, and changing the past. I bet you have too.
Time travel is a fascinating idea because our brains can’t help but think about “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 paths are closed is incredibly liberating.
Some Paths are closed
My friend Tim Urban is on TheWaitButWhy.comThe put this graph about the life choices we’ve made so far, and the branching paths open to us:
It’s really easy for our brains to hyperfocus on all the black lines in our past: the paths closed to us, the decisions we didn’t make, the decisions we did make and how we usually feel. life that is “determined” now.
“Because of how I’ve done it in the past, that’s the way things are.”
“Too bad I didn’t do XYZ, now it’s too late. I am so sorry!”
“I don’t deserve to be happy because of the mistake I made”
We often forget that it is only possible to connect the dots of our lives backwards, where we made every decision using the best information we had at the time.
(If you’re looking for a solid read, Matt Haig TheThe Midnight LibraryThe is a thought-provoking fictional story about alternative paths in life and acceptance. Haig pulled out of the past Thedecision that almost took his own lifeThe.)
So let’s talk about black lines and green possibilities.
Some Paths May Be Closed!
I bring all this up to make two points.
Author Chris Guillbeau, who greatly inspired my love of travel and influenced how I developed Nerd Fitness, recently released an essay about Theclosed doors are celebratedThe.
We’ve all heard stories about people who started several careers later in life.
An example is, “It’s not too late! Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his breakout role in “Pulp Fiction” until he was 46.
And Chris points out that sometimes…it’s too late:
While these stories are inspiring, the lesson that “it’s never too late” is not universal. Sometimes it’s too late! To believe otherwise is to believe a fantasy.
Some things in life have real deadlines—not all, but some.
In other words, sometimes we tend to hold on to something that we know we will eventually do “someday,” and maybe we refuse to accept the fact that…yes, it’s too late.
Maybe we keep hoping that eventually we’ll run a marathon…even if we hate running.
Maybe we keep hoping we’ll write that cookbook…even though we don’t really like to cook anymore.
Maybe we can decide that some paths are closed to us. We will accept it.
The Future is not Set in Stone either
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how TheThe Past is not Set in StoneThebecause our perspective on the story changes.
It’s okay to accept that maybe the dream we had in our 20s is okay to die.
However, it is also tragic to assume that it is “too late” to make any changes to our future, and it has already been determined.
Betrand Russel once said “You have no obligation to be who you were five minutes ago.”
As Chris says:
“It’s never too late” for many things, and that’s a good thing. But sometimes, and that’s okay.
It’s never too late to learn something new. It’s never too late to try new things.
But it may be too late for certain paths, and that’s okay.
Indeed, it is worth celebrating.
Leaving certain paths, or accepting that certain paths may be closed to us can free up space to make a different decision for life going forward.
You can decide later today to:
- start powerlifting
- take an online class for a new career.
- try a new hobby.
- talk to your doctor about Theweight loss aidThe.
We cannot travel back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination.
Some of life’s paths are closed to us.
Maybe that’s okay!
Instead of spending more brain power lamenting our closed black paths, we can work on deciding which green path to take next.
-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. TheClick here for more detailsThe.
