Life's Rerun

I believe that it's pretty common for people to begin a nostalgic sentence with, “If I had my life to live over...” A similar sentiment may be uttered as, “If I knew then what I know now...” We all could finish these declarations in our own particular manner, implying that, given the (impossible) opportunity to rerun my life, I'd do a much better job the next time around. We know that it's a ludicrous scenario, but we still dream, don't we?

What's going on when we have these thoughts come to mind that, given another rerun, we'd carve out a better life? Am I dissatisfied with the one I've got? Do I regret my choices? Am I jealous of the good life I see and envy in others and just know that I could do better than they, if I could only find the magic lamp and release the genie within? Hey, I'm really a better person than the other guy; I know I could really impress you, if only I had taken that other job, or married that other gal. I'd be someone special now.

These thoughts imply our having regrets about who we are and our circumstances in life, with the implication that we could do a better job, if we were granted a rerun. But is this true? First, let me put a little thought into the life I have and ponder all the good things I'm grateful for. Second, let me put some thought into the fact that I did make many good (and/or lucky) choices, and be thankful I was in a position to be able to do so. Third, let me recognize that many of these decisions (good or bad) weren't really within my purview. External circumstances were often controlling the situation, and a magical increase in wisdom on my part would unlikely have made a difference.

Then let me ponder the strong possibility that I was close to death many times, but managed to luckily squeak through. Give me a chance to relive my life and maybe I'd run my car into a ditch, rather than happily pull it out, a second time around. If so, I'd have expired, given a second chance! Maybe grace saved me then. Maybe grace would look the other way the next time around.

Why do we have these thoughts about rerunning our life? Why are we not content with what we have? Why do we want more? Why are we not more thankful for what we have? I believe it's simply human nature to do so... or maybe human laziness. With a little more effort we could put more focus on counting our blessings, rather than regret what we might have missed.

Finally, I believe that many of the regrets we have about our life are not necessarily due to dumb choices in the past, but the ongoing dumb choices we keep making. It's not the past that's the problem—it's today! Improving the past is an impossible dream. Improving the future depends heavily on what I do right now. Let me break from my daydreaming, with all its wishful thinking, and pay attention. Oops! I almost goofed up there, but I saw it coming instead and danced around that mistake.