What if

I've often wondered when I walk through the streets what would happen if we all stopped for one nanosecond and change what we are doing. Would that affect everything or nothing at all? Could that mean the beginning of something new or the end of something familiar?

Imagine a woman getting hit by a car. Now say she waited for just one second more on the curbe before crossing the street, would she get run over or would she walk away without a scratch?

Imagine your house on fire. If you woke up just a little bit faster, could you have saved your family and made it out alive? Or would you still become trapped inside?

Imagine ...

Infinite possibilities and infinite outcomes, but in the end there is only one. We don't get do-overs, we don't get second chances or borrowed time. Our life plays out without a pause, rewind or fast forward button.

Our present is constantly breaking up and turning into the past. Even when I'm writing this, I can just feel time ebbing away. The words I write, the keys I hit, the air I breathe, it is all in the past now.

I can't take it back. I can't erase the insignificant details of my life and see if they would have made a difference. I can't change any of it. It's an amazing and terrifying feeling of helplessness.

So suppose we could bend time to our will. Suppose in the future they have mass-produced handheld time machines. What would humanity do when bestowed such power? Would it lead to great fortune or utter ruin?

Personally, I don't think that the world is ready for something like that. We aren't ready.
Constricted by emotions, we would try to change everything that has ever gone wrong in our lives and forget or even refuse to live in the "present" or look to the future.

Go back to your childhood.
Make sure you don't experience the trauma's.
Make sure you pass your tests in high school
so you could get a better job later.
Avoid making the stupid mistakes
that have lead to a less fortunate future.
Relive your greatest moments.
Purge your life with all that you deem flawed.
Undo the damage you inflicted.
Take back your painful memories, erase them from your mind.

Rewrite your life.

Are we ready for this? Are we allowed such power?

Maybe the reason we don't get do-overs is so that we would think twice about crossing the street or making a choice. Maybe this forces us to be the best versions of ourselves. The knowledge that this is the only possible universe pushes us to make the most of it. Some people rise to the challenge and shine their light brightly across their world,

but sadly, there are others who prefer the darkness over the light, the sorrow and regret over happiness and forgiveness. They are confined to a single universe. A single life. Single chance. No do-overs.