If you had the opportunity to travel back in time, and tell yourself only 3 things, what would those three things be?
One question people sometimes have when I ask them this question is, can I travel back to 3 separate times in my life and tell myself one thing each time, or is it that I can only travel back once, and tell myself in that time period a maximum of 3 things?
I think I've always thought of the question as the latter situation, not the former, and I think it does matter which you choose. If, for example, you could only go back once, you must first make a decision of when in your timeline to go back to, and then choose what 3 things are most important to convey. I think this method of thinking about the problem most accurately reveals the things in your life that you most want to change right now, and so the question is most favorably asked in this context. It also means the traveler must take care to choose three things to let go of forever, as altering the timeline would have irrevocable consequences.
However, if you were to be able to travel back 3 times and tell yourself 1 thing each time, that gives the traveler more security and comfort in their selections and messages. Say, for example, you went back to when you were 5 to tell yourself to not take everything so seriously (not one of my selections) - that might have very negative consequences on your schooling, but help your social life, and you may find yourself in the present day stuck with a lot of debt and a string of meaningless relationships. You could, then, go back (assuming there is a moment between message delivered and things taking effect permanently) and undo the damage done by telling your first traveling self not to deliver the message... but then you've used up 2 traveling opportunities, and you're no further ahead than when you started.
So, lets just stick with the question as though you can't go back and undo things. That makes most sense, seeing as time travel isn't possible, and this is all an academic discussion in any case.
If you could travel back in time once, to any time in your history, and tell yourself 3 things, when would you go back to, and what would you tell yourself?
-----
This was one of the topics of discussion I had erased from my blog. We've covered why, so lets move on.
What would I tell myself?
Hmmm...
1) I think it would be pretty safe to tell myself that I have Klinefelter's Syndrome. It's not something that I would be able to change, as it occurs as the first cell splits into two, and two into four, etc., but knowing that I have Klinefelter's Syndrome would help me understand a lot of things, things that I'm still learning even now.
It's a tricky syndrome. What one person with Klinefelter's experiences is not necessarily what another person with Klinefelter's experiences. There are generalities that affect all across the board, and that typify all Klinefelter's patients, but each person suffers these generalities to varying degrees.
Klinefelter's is typified as a micro-addition to the XY chromosome, where an extra X gets added; sometimes more than one X. Generally speaking, each extra X added can mean a diminished intelligence quotient by about 10 points, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Since the human body has 23 pairs of chromosomes (46 in total), having 47 chromosomes is problematic. And, which chromosome did the additional chromosome get paired with? Change one thing in the perfect map of the human body, and you get chaos all over the place.
Here's what I've been experiencing with Klinefelter's (not an exhaustive list, just what I've noticed so far) (and, also, listed in no particular order. Just what comes to mind as it comes) (and, I'm not even sure if some of these things are related to Klinefelter's):
a) Allergies. There is some thought that Klinefelter's Syndrome (from here on out I'm just going to refer to it as KS) can lead to autoimmune disorders. Allergies, according to my latest information (several years out of date, admittedly), is a disorder in the autoimmune system. Okay, so not all people with allergies have KS. But, not all people with allergies have more than one allergy. Or more than 2. Or more than 5. I have 23. That in itself makes things not easy. I think I'll post a side blog about living with allergies, just to keep things a bit more on track here.
b) Executive Functioning problems. So you know that thing that most people have that lets them stay focused on a task longer than 2 minutes, that people with ADHD have to take medication to achieve? KS patients (in general) lack that functioning. It's how most KS patients are first identified - they don't do well in school, and an IQ test doesn't illuminate the issues. I don't know if its the same as ADHD, or just similar, but I do know that it affects other Executive Functioning such as working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. Also, absorbing the meaning of complex issues through reading (textbooks) seems to be a near impossible challenge. And I read extra slowly, so that doesn't help. There's probably more problems related to this, but I can't remember them now.
c) My body didn't form properly. I have under-developed lungs, for one thing, and apparently my follicle immune system doesn't function properly. If I get a cold, it can rapidly move to an infection in my lungs if I'm not careful, and that's where things go from bad to worse. Which is why COVID-19 could take me down hard if I get it. Scary times.
d) Related to the last point, my body doesn't produce testosterone. That's got a whole range of problems associated with it. The most obvious one is that I can't naturally father children. I think I might have been okay with that if I had ended up marrying someone who either did not want children, or could not have children, but that's a decision that past me would have had the opportunity to make or not make. I chose (not having this information), to make the decision of having or not having children with my spouse, and we chose to have children. I'm not sure if knowing I had KS would have changed that decision or not. It's not something you make without a conversation with your partner.
d) (2) Not making testosterone also depletes the calcium in my body. I need to consume copious amounts of calcium to stay ahead of my body's needs, or what starts to happen is my body will start eating the calcium out of my bones and teeth. It happens anyway, but I can minimize it by having a diet high in calcium. That also will eventually lead to early onset osteoporosis, so I have that to look forward to later in life. Already I've experienced the fallout of that with soft teeth. My teeth are showing excessive wear, and I have lots of fillings.
d (3) Testosterone also affects mood. I'm prone to depression and mood swings.
e) Permanent "lanky" build. Teenagers who are growing fast in puberty will experience moments where their lanky build throws off their sense of balance and coordination. They eventually get over it. I won't. My legs and my arms are each 2 to 3 inches longer than they should be. Normal clothes don't fit me, and I'm always bumping into stuff. My spatial awareness is permanently uncalibrated.
f) My emotions are all over the map. I have trouble regulating joy and sadness, and sometimes I have trouble feeling excited or expressing excitement over things that I should be excited about.
g) I have trouble reading/interpreting situations, or forecasting the response to actions. This can get me into a lot of trouble socially.
There are lots of other things that living with KS makes difficult. This is the tip of the iceberg, and already it's not a great thing to live with. Will telling myself that I have KS make it go away? No, but it might help me, my parents, my teachers, and my friends better understand who I am. It might even help me make better decisions in life. I think it would even help me gain a sense of confidence earlier than I gained that piece of me, and in a healthier way. I think that changing the timing of knowing that one piece of information would have helped me avoid making a number of mistakes that I now regret making.
But would I have just made other mistakes instead, and have regrets about those? Only time will tell.
I'm wrapping this up for now, look for part 2 soon. If you want to know more about Klinefelter Syndrome, you can start here:
https://www.webmd.com/men/klinefelter-syndrome#1
I'm not sure how thoroughly they discuss the syndrome, but it's as good a place to start as any.
-UM
No comments:
Post a Comment