About Time is a light, little movie I watched a week ago! It is a heart-warming romantic comedy which affirms a lot of what is good about life.

But there’s a twist to the story. The male character can travel in time! His father informs him about age 21 that all males in their family have this ability. He shows his son how it works, what can be done with it, and what its limitations are. The son experiments a bit, and gradually accepts that he has this ability.

He uses it quite a bit at first, especially when it comes to establishing a romantic relationship. But as he gets older, develops a career, has a family, he begins to realize that this gift is not always a blessing. In one telling episode, where he tries to prevent his sister from having a disastrous accident, he realizes (as he talks this over with his father), that sometimes it is better not to interfere with the bumps and trials of life. Sometimes the pain we experience is for our own good.

With his father’s advice he begins to use his gift only to re-live each day so as to recognize the good things happening in it. After awhile, he says, he even ceases this use, and allows each day to unfold as it will, always aware of the giftedness in his life, from the most casual encounters with strangers to the deeper gifts of his family and friends.

It is such a good lesson, one all of us can learn from. Too often we go through our day with blinders on, unaware of all the goodness going on around us.