Musing is good for the soul, but depending on the muse, it can be “not good” for other parts of your life. Musing leads to speculation, speculation leads to thought experiments on what you might have done differently, and what you might have done differently leads to dissatisfaction with your current state of affairs. You know, you muse on the results of that one-on-one debacle with some gross jock at the prom when you were sixteen. Or how you could have won the Powerball if you had bought the ticket rather than the pack of smokes.
Keeping your musing non-judgemental is the way to go… color shapes, the beauty of the flowers in the garden, where the hummingbirds that visit every day are nesting, and stuff like that. Safe things.
Who am I kidding? Angst-driven reflection can lead to some pretty essential revelations. Remember that you are (hopefully) thirty years more mature when you look back thirty years. Of course, you’d do some things differently. You are not the you that you were ( thank God).
Now wait a minute. Talking about God. What if you were granted Deus Ex Machina ability as used in Greek Theatre? Why there you’d be marching right in, shoving your sixteen-year-old self aside and telling the punk off in the sort of wise-ass fashion you’ve honed over the decades. Or walking into the store, pulling yourself aside, and explaining that buying the smokes or the Powerball ticket was foolish – put that money into your 401k instead.
About this time, you’ve wasted an hour, and the dog is begging to go out, and that piece in the shop needs varnishing. Time for another cup of coffee.
I so agree with the first paragraph
I think I would be the opposite talking to my younger self. I would say take the plunge, go for it, you only are young once.
I muse far too often on past foolishness. For me it’s that little voice –pride?– that pokes me at 2 am with flashbacks. “Remember when you did…or said…and how stupid that will have looked…or sounded?”
me too…sigh.