This question was doing the rounds on social media recently. If you had a choice of taking a blue pill and restarting your life at age 10 but with all you know now, or of taking a red pill and waking up age 45 with 50 million dollars, what would you choose?
I did think about it for a moment but to me it's clear, I would go for the blue pill! Why would I want to wish the next ten years of my life away? Sure I would get a million dollars but so what, to me the years in between spent with friends and family are a lot more valuable! I do realise that being in a position to turn down a million dollars probably also shows that I already have a certain amount of privilege. I have a roof over my head and plenty of access to food and health care. I'm sure there are lots of people who would be desperate for the money for various reasons.
Life is short and the thought of getting more time is appealing. That said, I don't particularly like the idea of having to start at age 10 all over again! I would have to go through the teenage years with all those crazy hormones, immature friends, not to mention exams which doesn't sound particularly appealing. However I have gained a lot of knowledge by now that I think I could manage it!
The main advantage for me of course would be the opportunity to spend time with my late Mum again. She passed just before my 23rd birthday. The idea of getting another 13 years with her would be amazing. And this time I would make sure we have more quality time. The idea of having to watch her get sick again is hard though, but maybe with my knowledge I could send her to the doctor earlier so she could get diagnosed sooner. I would try to be a better daughter this hypothetical time too.
I also wouldn't care as much about what other people think of me. As I've gotten older I've realised how little that really matters and that you should rather be true to yourself.
I would invest in shares, haha! Google, Facebook, Apple... maybe that way by age 45 I'd easily have saved a million dollars.
I was considering whether I would study something different at university for a total change but then I realised that the subjects I picked (German among others) ended up leading me down a path where I met my now husband and moved to Germany. I'm very happy with these decisions so I'd probably be better off studying the same topics and not changing any of the big life choices I made in the past.
It is also possible that maybe I would drive myself crazy trying to stop awful events which I would know in advance about. There's this character from ancient Greek mythology called Cassandra. She was given the gift of foresight but no one ever believes her so it becomes a horrible curse.
Which would you pick if you were given the choice? I guess choosing neither is also an option.
Blue pill, no question. Even if I didn't change anything, I had a good childhood. Good idea about making money off the market! And even without money involved, I'd like to think that my 30s will have too many good things to want to miss.
ReplyDeleteYeah I think even with the blue pill option there would be ways to make some money! I hope your 30s bring lots of great things :)
DeleteI would rather not choose any for many reasons. I have the early childhood memories, let them be and as for age 45 lets see. ;)
ReplyDeleteyeah I can understand the reasons for not choosing either! They would also be a danger of messing things up in the past.
DeleteUgh, the idea of having to go through high school again does NOT appeal to me! Maybe the chance to do better in my exams, although if I had got the grades I was aiming for I would have got into my first choice uni and then would never have met Jan. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteYea I also don't particularly like the idea of having to go through school again! Starting at college age would be better! Yeah I was also thinking that if I changed too much I wouldn't end up with hubby which would be sad!
Deletei am with you for sure. i'm also with bev above, i would hate to live through high school and all the awkwardness again, but it would be so worth it to spend time with people - quality time - that i can't now, for many reasons. and yes i would invest in things lol but it would be hard knowing ab out the bad stuff. maybe everything would be wiped from your brain except for the things directly relating to your own life.
ReplyDeleteYea it would be easier if the bad stuff were wiped as otherwise it would be really hard living knowing something awful is about to happen but you can't prevent it.. Yeah it would be so nice to spend quality time with some people from my past too.
DeleteNeither. If I changed anything in the past it could have jeopardized my meeting my hubby and I wouldn't change anything about it. Sure 50 million would be nice but why jump ahead in age.
ReplyDeleteYea the more I thought about changing things the more I realised I could end up not with my hubby so then I wouldn't want to change too much.. I agree with not wanting to jump ahead and lose years!
DeleteInteresting question... I guess if I had no choice but those two choices I would go with the 45 one, because that's only 3 years and change away. There are so many painful experiences between 10 and now, and while all of them made me who I am, regardless of knowing things better I can't guarantee I'd end up with Bryce if living over, so no to that one. I might be wiser now but it's in part because of those things I lived through. I'd probably resist the temptation for both, if that was a choice. Live the life I've got.
ReplyDeleteYea I think in general it's bad to have too many regrets because we learn from the past and it makes us who we are today. The idea of going through awful things from the past again isn't appealing at all! Live the life you've got is a good policy.
DeleteIt's funny that so many commenters wouldn't want to change things and miss out on meeting their current partner. Part of the reason I would want to go back to 10, knowing what I know now, is to AVOID getting involved with my ex. Although, in avoiding him I run the risk of not having my children, so there's that.... Definitely a thought provoking question!
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting how the answers can be so different! I guess there are good and bad aspects to whatever path we have all ended up on and changing anything could be risky.
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