Experiential Deja Vu
Age 17
She takes a swig of Alcohol for the first time in her life, the sudden surprise of it makes her mouth sting. She lifts the bottle to her lips again and remains fascinated by the way it makes her feel. Soon she feels a heat in her chest... she's never felt it before. They hand her another bottle and she finishes it just as fast as the one before. She starts hearing the word, intoxicated, the word her friends start calling her. The next morning she doesn't know what happened the night before.
Age 27
10 years later, she wakes up on a Saturday morning with big plans ahead of her for the day. Feeling lazy, she walks sloppily to the fridge. Opening the fridge, she reaches for the eggs but can't help but notice the bottle. Without thinking, she grabs the bottle and closes the fridge. She lifts the bottle to her lips and he mouth stings. Soon she feels the heat in her chest. Three bottles later, what was once an colorful experience has turned into a nasty habit that is slowly derailing not only her day but her life.
What's the difference between her at 17 and her at 27?
She's had experiences. At 17, she doesn't know where this new exciting path will lead her. At 27, she knows exactly where this destructive path will go. She knows this at 27 because she has, what I call, experiential deja vu. She's lived this experience out 100s of times over the span of her life.
Wisdom comes when you learn from your experiential deja vu. Wise people not only recognize where the path will lead but will actively change course if the destination is not beneficial in the long term.
- Do you get experiential deja vu when you have some free time you just want to lay in your bed and watch 5 hours of crap on youtube?
- Do you get experiential deja vu when your friend makes that side comment and all you want to do is lash out?
- Do you get experiential deja vu when you compare yourself to another and you're tempted to let yourself believe that lie you're not good enough?
Everyone has experiential deja vu.
Not everyone changes their course of action based on their experiential deja vu.
