Dreamer's World January 12 2015 - If you could read a book containing all that has happened and will ever happen in your life, would you? If you choose to read it, you must read it cover to cover.

    Absolutely NOT! I have no wish to go back and relive my past mistakes. I know that those mistakes have made me the person I am today. Whether or not this is a good thing is very debatable, but that is part of what makes Life so magical. We cannot wipe the slate clean of our mistakes, so why bother to relive them when that process often takes us years to do in the real world?

    There is the temptation to relive past glories and wonderful times, of course. But I don't feel any more desire to do that than to relive the bad times. Those special moments when we are on top of the world lose their meaning if they can be rehashed in an instant. The best times are often the result of so many factors that it isn't worth the trouble to recreate them even in our own minds any more than is absolutely necessary.

There is a double-edged sword that is hidden in this question. If we were to go back and read all about what happened to us throughout our lives, we lose perspective. The bad times are often what we use as a reference to identify the good times. There is no absolute easy way to review our own lives, and we cannot escape this fact.

     The other aspect is that this book would enable us to see what will happen. This is not only wrong, but it robs us of our humanity. How can we live life if we know what choices will be made and what will happen to us? We would consciously or subconsciously try to avoid the bad time we know is right around the corner, only to find that we cannot. I would imagine that by itself would take any of the joy and excitement out of life. We would never be pleasantly surprised by anything again if we were to read this book. What would be the point of living with that knowledge?

     A fovorite old movie of mine is "Auntie Mame" in which the lead character exclaims "Life is a Banquet, and most poor suckers are Starving to Death!". Not that I am prescribing that we all take our advice on life from Hollywood, but this is an interesting quote. Life is meant to be lived, not simply endured. Life without surprises and learning is purgatory.

A lot of people would say that they would not want to know when and how they die. This is perfectly understandable, and for many people would by itself stop them from reading the book about their own lives. I understand that, but having advanced knowledge of my own death would cause me more turmoil in the sense that I would then know all the things that I never attempted or completed. It would add undue pressure to once again attempt to change things that won't be changed.

     I would pass the book on my Life by in a heartbeat without a second thought. It holds no interest to me.