The Magic Wand of Change

Many years ago, I painfully reflected on some of my choices. My life felt like a graveyard of mistakes, regrets, and missed opportunities. I suspect people around me generally looked at me as a successful person, but I carried a lot of baggage from the past. Looking at my rearview mirror of brokenness, I tried to imagine how much better off I'd be had I just done things differently.

I remember asking myself, "What would I do if I could wave my magic wand and get a do-over?" I obviously didn't have a Delorian, so going back in time wasn't an option (plus it would have been a bummer to destroy the space-time continum.....Doc Brown warned me of such shenanigans).

Since time travel was off the table, I decided to do the next best thing. I took an inventory of my biggest regrets from the past, assessed what I would have done differently, and decided to just do that now.

I deeply regretted my $236,000 of debt and desperately wished I hadn't done that. So we decided to pay it off. It forever changed our lives.

I deeply regretted buying an expensive car with debt. So we decided we would never again buy a car with debt again. It forever changed our lives.

I always wished I could be a podcaster. So I decided to become a podcaster.

I always wanted to live a life where I would wake up every day excited for what was to come. So I decided to leave my prior career and take a 90% pay cut to start over. That was a hard one.....really hard.

We always wanted to live a more walkable, transient life. So we decided to sell our house, rent a tiny townhome in a walkable part of town, and split our time between Iowa and Asia. This was our biggest magic wand decision, but also the biggest bust. As we were buying plane tickets and making housing arrangements for our first 3-month stint in Asia, COVID hit and ruined everything. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

These magic wands are funny. They don't rewrite history, but they do allow us the opportunity to author a different story for our future. It's not free, and it's not easy, but it is worth it. I wish it were as simple as rubbing the lamp and making a wish, but the truth is it takes a lot of fortitude and commitment to see it through. It's brutal....and beautiful.

My challenge to you today, if you're so inclined to accept it, is to ask yourself one simple question: "What would I do if I could wave my magic wand and get a do-over?" Take stock of your answers. Unfortunately, you can't rewrite the past, but you are the author of a story that has yet to be written. What story will you write? Perhaps a change may be in order. Maybe it's time to wave that wand.