Our Weekly Wednesday Creativity Contest question on Facebook for today is “If you could go back in time and give your 18 year old self advice, what would you tell yourself?”

Synchronize your watches!

The question was inspired by one of my favorite movies Back to the Future. I’m sure you all remember the plot of Doc Brown and Marty McFly going back in time to meet Marty’s parents, accidentally preventing them from meeting therefore preventing Marty from being born, fixing things between his parents and finally creating a better future for him and his family. While I didn’t question the logic of Doc Brown’s time travel when I saw the movie 25 years ago, it turns out that Back to the Future‘s time travel theory is impossible, unlike everything else in the movie. (Just kidding.) Marty prevented his parents from meeting therefore wouldn’t exist. There would be no Marty to go back in time to prevent them from meeting. It’s an infinite paradox that doesn’t make sense, (at least not in the third dimension.)

Here’s a great infographic in case you’re interested in how sci-fi people theorize about traveling time:

On a practical level, it’s interesting to look back and think about what you could tell your past self. We all have tons of bad decisions and missed opportunities that we wish we could do over. We all learn along the way. No one gets life completely right the first time around, the problem is it’s the only time around. But isn’t that the fun of it? What if your future self could come visit you today and tell you all the things that will happen and all the things you should do? It might be nice for a bit, but wouldn’t you be surely bored quickly?

Yes there are many things we wish we could do over. That’s how we learn. Remember that all that’s done is done, and that’s what’s made each of us who we are today. Not knowing what’s next is what makes life fun, so don’t get caught on regrets.