Time of My Life

I burned through Allison Winn Scotch's book, "Time of My Life" over the weekend. My mom got it for me for Christmas, so I just had to read it right away. It was a page turner. The gist of the story is this: Jillian Westfield is a suburban mom, living in Westchester, NY, raising a 2 year old, and finds that the spark in her marriage (to Henry, a successful investment banker), has sort of, well, died out. She starts to think about her last boyfriend (Jack) that she broke things off with and wonders what would have happened had she ended up with him.

As the saying goes, be careful what you wish for. In the midst of a massage, she is transported back 7 years. She is with Jack and at her old advertising job.

Ok, so it was really difficult to get past the fact that her masseuse could 'unblock her chi' and send her back 7 years... and she was fully aware that she was in the past. So she could take advantage of things she knew from living the last 7 years. Like what the Coke executives wanted out of their ads. Or the fact that her best friend has a miscarriage and needed extra help and support that she didn't give her the first time around...

But, if you can get past that, it's a pretty good book. It's interesting to think about. I know I am very guilty of romanticizing the past. Big time. Old jobs seem so much more interesting/challenging after the fact. And the bad habits and reasons you didn't stay with an ex-boyfriend seem to drift away from your memories. However, if I had a chance to go back and do it all over again (which I honestly wouldn't want to do), I can honestly say I've made the best decisions I could have... at least thus far in my life.

It was an interesting and thought provoking book. Bottom-line, the message is that we are all in control of our destinies. Moving from Westchester to Brooklyn isn't really going to solve your problems. At least not for most people. We need to take responsibility for the things that are in our control. Jillian was feeling the spark leave her marriage, but was it something that was 100% her husband's fault? Probably not.

I will say it is interesting to read this book as an unmarried person with no children. I am so fortunate to have many friends who are married & 4 siblings that are married/engaged and have children. I don't know what the struggles of marriage/child-rearing are truly like; I only know as much as my friends/siblings are willing to share, but luckily, a lot of them are pretty honest about the sort of things you argue or struggle with from time to time. So I think when Mr. Right comes along, I'll know what to expect and will have realistic expectations. At least I hope so!