In the movie “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban”, Hermione Granger says, “Awful things happen to wizards who meddle with time.” I disagree. Awful things CAN happen when you interfere with time—but so can wonderful things. And as I understand it, we all meddle with time every day. We couldn’t stop ourselves even if we tried.
Imagine stepping back into your past and changing one pivotal event. That small shift could alter how you see yourself today—and who you allow yourself to be. Of course, that past is long gone. What truly shapes your identity is the story you tell yourself about it. In this sense, you’re meddling with time whenever you change one of those stories that define who you are.
Most people don’t realize how much power their stories hold. They forget these narratives are just slivers of the truth. Worse, many keep replaying certain parts they truly hate.
Even the most successful people aren’t immune to this. Yet many understand one critical truth: a hero’s story is essentially a loser’s journey that turns out lucky. Think about it: the “hero” wets his pants, embarks on a quest to find laundry detergent, meets allies to figure out the damn washing machine, cleans up his mess, and returns home with pants so spotless his friends barely recognize him. That’s what we call personal growth.
Looking back, I have a choice. I can focus on every time someone or something tried to stop me from doing what I wanted—or I can focus on how that resistance forced me to study human psychology in the rawest, most practical way.
I know this much: if my past had been different, I couldn’t write about these topics or work with people the way I do. My goal has always been to understand human nature and make a difference. So, life handed me the exact lessons I’d been asking for—whether I liked them or not. Your past doesn’t control your future. What controls your future is how the stories you tell about your past shape your decisions right now. It doesn’t matter if these stories start with you wetting your pants. What matters is where they take you. Tell them with dignity.
