“At one point or another we all search for a rewind. We long for a time before. The challenge is in using this insight from our past to empower our NOW. The concept of turning back the time in our lives should be based on our own evolution. It is about taking all that we know, all that we have learned, and tweaking it into all that we can be!”

Feeling nostalgic? Our own internal clocks can do that to us. Longing for what once was is part of the human condition. The interesting thing that I have noticed is that if I am looking back in time at my life and longing for the past, it is just before I am about to spring ahead into something new and wonderful in the future. It is the preamble to the pivot. For instance, my daughter is graduating from college in a few months. Major milestone for her and a trigger for me to take a trip down Motherhood Memory Lane! I imagine her back in her stroller, yet life marches on! This graduation milestone signifies a new shift in our relationship…she is no longer a student, or a dependent. She will be paving her own way in the world. We are not only mother and daughter, not just simply the best of friends, but we are now woman-to-woman. The playing field shifts and levels out just a bit. I am so looking forward to this next and new stage of our journey together.

Cher sings about looking back to re-do and make right a relationship gone wrong in “If I Could Turn Back Time.” Twenty-One Pilots sings about returning to the past when they were kids and could play and not have to worry about money in their song “Stressed Out.” The message being that if we can go back in time we can have a do-over on a part of our lives that we are longing to replay. Used productively, reaching back in time can actually provide us with the most introspective connection to ourselves. We often leave bits of whimsy, playfulness, and a sense of adventure behind as we move ahead into the business of everyday life. When I was reinventing myself a few years back, one of the most significant questions that I asked myself was “If it were ten years ago, what would I do and why?” For me, I needed to step back in order to move ahead. Just like the toy car that we rev backwards to propel forward, I had some unfinished business in connecting to myself. Turning back time in order to gain insight is deeply empowering when it is used as a springboard to determine your goals promoting a purpose for a change.

My caution to everyone is that turning back time should be less of a personal historical battle rich in baggage, and more of a foundation for what may be next. When we dwell on our past, we can create depression and sadness telling ourselves we are now too old to pursue something that time has perhaps been “wasted.” We explore all the excuses. If we are in search of what is different or looking for what is next in life, then we need to do the work TODAY to make that change into a reality. This moment we are in is the only one that we own. We have the choice to fill it with obstacles or to fill it with opportunities.

Be mindful that today will soon become tomorrow and become the moment we may most want to turn back to in the future. Make today your best day…don’t miss out!