Would You Live Your Life Over If Exactly The Same?
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If you could live your life over again from birth, with the understanding that you will experience it all exactly as you had the first time, would you want to do that?
I’m not proposing to have the chance to go back and be able to correct your mistakes. I’m asking a philosophical question for you to give it some thought. Remember that I said you would experience everything exactly the same.
The purpose of this discussion is to give some thought to enjoying life by considering how we live in the past, the present or the future. Any of these periods of our lives may have a positive or a negative affect on how we live and what we do, as well as how happy or sad we are about it.
As for the question I started with, I might say that If one had a miserable life then they would most likely not want to repeat it. And if they had a wonderful life they may have a desire to relive it once again.
But thinking about this philosophically, there is so much more to consider.
Lets take a closer look at both of these scenarios.
Repeating An Unpleasant Past
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I think it's unquestionable that anyone who was not happy with his or her life so far would have no desire to repeat it. But when you think about it, there are many people who repeat their mistakes hoping to make it work the next time around.
They just redo whatever failed the first time, or the second, third or tenth time. They choose similar partners if a prior marriage failed, they repeat the same business instead of trying something new, and they make the same investments even though they lost money the first time.
Maybe they are thinking, “I want to go back in time and start over.” But they are not giving any quality thought to what they are doing. They are not analyzing their affairs and making a conscious decision to make changes where changes are necessary.
If it were you, would you want to relive those embarrassing times, those hurtful times, those painful times? We need to understand our past and know what we did wrong. But we shouldn’t want to repeat it! An old Cherokee Indian Proverb states, "Don't let yesterday use up too much of today." To me that proverb means not to repeat more and more of your “yesterdays.”
Somewhere along the way we need to get over the reason for repeating the past. We need to get in touch with it and learn to overcome it so that we can change our course and discover a better future going forward.
Albert Einstein once said, "Insanity is repeating the same thing over again, expecting different results."
We should all use that wisdom. There will always be bad days where we have made mistakes and irrational decisions. But we need to gain knowledge of the driving force that causes us to subconsciously have a desire to repeat an unpleasant past experience.
We are not going to make changes unless we stop repeating the old nonsense and start enjoying life. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best...
Holding On To A Good Past
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Considering my original question again, if you could live your life over and start again from birth, but understanding that you will relive everything exactly as you had the first time, would you want to do that? Only this time let’s analyze repeating a good life.
If one had nothing but richly rewarding memories of the past, why in the world would they not want to experience all that again? I’ll tell you why. If they would be contemplating such as return to the past, why in the world are they dismissing their present and their future?
If their past were so great, then wouldn’t it be assumed that the goodness is continuing? Or is it a more serious psychological problem? Some people are never satisfied with their life. They have everything they ever wanted. And yet, they are searching for something else. That makes them dwell on the fun times, the great times, and the rewarding times of the past.
Oscar Wilde once said “No man is rich enough to buy back his past.” Good old Oscar is implying with that statement that the past is worth so much that we can’t afford it.
I have another way of looking at that. Our past isn’t going to do us any good. It’s gone. We may have had fond memories and those are ours to cherish. The past is precious. But tomorrow is worth a fortune.
Our future is the most powerful thing we have! You can’t buy it for any amount of money. And yet, it’s being given to us for free! Every moment of every day, a little bit more of our future unravels itself.
That last statement of mine really got my head spinning. I never gave that any thought until it just came out of my mouth. Well, actually it came through my fingers, as the case may be. Nevertheless, I just dreamed that up while writing this. Goes to show how the future is unraveling. Doesn’t it?
You’ll never know when, suddenly, in the next moment of your life, you say or do something that changes the course of your entire future. And it’s easy! It’s constantly happening in small bite-sized pieces. So it’s never too much to handle at any point in time. Just as Abraham Lincoln once said...
The Past, The Present, And The Future
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 | While on the topic of remembering the past, here's a fascinating book by Alice Morse Earle, who is well known for her quote mentioned above in this Hub.
Details of what life was like for children in Colonial America.
Amazon Price: $4.00 List Price: $21.95 |
So what do we do with all this philosophical analysis? Let’s just take a brief journey through the past, the present, and the future that it holds; thoughts that just pop into my mind. . .
- If you just live in the past you will never grow.
- If you live for the moment you will never mature.
- If you live in the future alone, you are dreaming.
But by allowing yourself to be aware of what the past created and what you can achieve in the future, then you will make the best of the present.
My favorite quote is that of an American historian and author, Alice Morse Earle, who wrote...
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. And today? Today is a gift. That's why we call it the present.”
The future is beginning right now. Go for it!
Copyright © 2011 Glenn Stok
★★★ Get to know the author... See Glenn Stok's profile ★★★
If you want to analyze a slightly different philosophical concept, deciding at what age to start from in order to live a different life, check out "If We Could Start Our Life Over."
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I did not have to think about it very long. If I would not be allowed to change anything, I will just keep what I have.
This is a profound article. The Cherokees, Emerson, and Lincoln all got it right. I am guilty of spending too much of the present analyzing the past, until I outgrew the past. I also spent too much time worrying about the future. Finally in my middle age, I am content with myself in my present, enjoying each day into the future. Yes there are things I still want, but not having them is no big deal.
Really like your statement: Every moment of every day, a little bit more of our future unravels itself. How true. I wouldn't go back for either a good past or a bad one. I'm like the rest of the people here, live in the present and look to the future. Very interesting hub and I enjoyed reading it.
Wonderful Hub that evokes many thoughts as we ponder what you are asking. I didn't have to think very long on my answer. If not allowed to make any changes in the "do over" I would not want to go back. Looking backwards is only beneficial if 1. we are able to profit from our mistakes in order not to repeat them or, 2. we look back on our memories of loved ones no longer living to keep those memories and loved ones alive in our hearts and minds. I am reminded of a question asked of Oprah many years ago in an interview. The question was: if you could change anything that happened in your past, what would you change? You could see tears in her eyes as she reflected on events in the past that the public was aware of - early childhood abuse, etc. Her answer was perfect. She said everything that had happened to her had created the person she was today and she wouldn't change anything. GClark
Love the quotes, Glenn. And I also like how you have the banner at the bottom of your hub with your picture. :-)
mathira ~ I agree. Thanks for stopping by.
homesteadbound ~ That must mean that you are content with things. That's good.
FGual ~ Sounds like you have it all under control.
Danette Watt ~ Interesting that you pointed that out. When I wrote it I amazed myself that I just wrote it. It made to think of another Hub I am writing dealing with for things sometimes just come to us while we write. I'm glad you enjoyed reading this Hub.
GClark ~ Wow! Thanks for that insightful comment. That quote of Oprah's is really very meaningful. It goes for most anyone, I would think.
easylearningweb ~ Thanks. I had fun creating the graphics with those quotes.
glenn-- as always you ask teh questions that need to be asked, and then you don't stop there. You ask it again- which in my mind is something that msot don't do.
Rebecca, Thanks for noticing the similarity between this and the previous question. The other Hub had to do with deciding where to start from in order to live a different life. This one deals with repeating exactly the same. Thanks for stopping by, always good to see you around.
Awesome hub Glenn! I am new to hub pages, and this was pretty inspiring.
jkrygiel08, Thanks for the nice comment. Welcome to HubPages.
Heya Glenn, there's nothing like taking a break to stop and smell the flowers. Thought-provoking hub you've got here; usually the focus on going back is if you could change something.
Very thought provoking inspiring hub Glenn.
Hi Glenn, I have written a hub of my favorites I read this week, and this hub is on the list! Congrats and Happy New Year!
Phil Plasma ~ Thanks for your feedback on this.
Millionaire Tips ~ Thanks for feeling that my Hub is worthy of being mentioned in your list. I'll go and check it out.
Glenn, I enjoyed pondering the philosophical question; but I came to it already knowing that there's very little I'd want to go back and go through again. (A couple of "biggies" - decisions - yes, but only those). Some of that bad stuff (and I've had more than average) was just too awful to re-visit; and all the good stuff (more than average amount of that too, I think) would either be too painful to have to "leave" again; or else wouldn't have happened if the picture had been completely different.
This is corny, but I think of my three grown kids and think of that Maureen McGovern song, "On My Way to You". (A line from it: "If I could change a single day, what went amiss, or went astray; I wouldn't change a thing that happened on my way to you.") I don't have grandchildren yet, but imagine I'll one day look at them, think of their parents, and yet again think of that line from that song.
(Besides, if it weren't for all that horrible stuff I've had dumped in my life, I wouldn't be nearly as strong as I am now, or understand a whole lot of the stuff that I now understand about life. LOL Another song reference: "I've looked at clouds from both sides now." :) (I do have to say I've never been entirely sure that I completely agree with that Einstein thing about doing the same thing over and over again, however; because sometimes the same thing (on one level) can be done in a way that's just slightly different (on a deeper level), and that could actually lead to a different outcome - I think?? )
Lisa, You sound like you would rather leave your past behind you and there is nothing wrong with that, as long as you feel you are doing what's important for moving forward to make a better future. Based on your comment, I think you might find my other Hub related more closely to your feelings... "If We Could Start Our Life Over"
Glenn,
Excellent Hub! Just came across your other Hub about Google and had to read more. I will be following closely.
mathira Level 4 Commenter 5 months ago
Wonderful hub, glenn. Learning lesson from the past, living today to the optimum, looking forward to future with eagerness can make our life meaningful.