The Reset Button.

We all think about the past. We love to dwell on it, discuss it, remember it fondly, or even in some rare cases, learn from it. What if we had a chance to change it? What if we could go back ten years in our life retaining the memories we have now? What if we had the chance to make things right, or how they should have been, or to say those words we should have said or do those things we should have done?

I give you the scenario. The ten-year reset button. You press it, the universe reverts back to 1993 and you are whatever age you were then. You retain your memory of those ten years, but only you. You can use it only once, you are accountable for what you do now. There are no more reset buttons.

The first reaction is, of course, ‘I’m in the money!’ Well you would be. If money is what you want. And face it, we all do. Stocks in Microsoft maybe, or a few winning bets. Money doesn’t always bring happiness though. Nor does the wrath of the cynical about lucky people.

Perhaps you pressed the button to resolve big mistakes in life. Perhaps your actions in your re-lived years lead you to not even land in those positions again. Would you make other mistakes? Would your extra ten years of experience help you to lead a better life?

Could you use your knowledge wisely? Could you stand by knowing certain things would happen? Could you live with yourself knowing that disasters will happen and you may be able to stop them? Would your own morals question your decision to stand by if that is your choice to do so?

The big question is how far do your actions affect those around you? Do you believe in fate and that you cannot change the inevitable? Or do you believe that your actions, however small, will change the world? Do your actions change the world so much that after a while your past memories become useless?

Weigh it up. Would you press the reset button?