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If I were able to live my life anew…

Old Man on Metro

Moments

If I were able to live my life anew,
In the next I would try to commit more errors.
I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more.
I would be more foolish than I’mve been,
In fact, I would take few things seriously.
I would be less hygienic.
I would run more risks,
take more vacations,
contemplate more sunsets,
climb more mountains, swim more rivers.
I would go to more places where I’mve never been,
I would eat more ice cream and fewer beans,
I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.
I was one of those people that lived sensibly
and prolifically each minute of his life;
Of course I had moments of happiness.
If I could go back I would try
to have only good moments.
Because if you didn’t know, of that is life made:
only of moments; Don’t lose the now.
I was one of those that never
went anywhere without a thermometer,
a hot-water bottle,
an umbrella, and a parachute;
If I could live again, I would travel lighter.
If I could live again,
I would begin to walk barefoot from the beginning of spring
and I would continue barefoot until autumn ends.
I would take more cart rides,
contemplate more dawns,
and play with more children,
If I had another life ahead of me.
But already you see, I am 85,
and I know that I am dying.

– Jorge Luis Borges / Nadine Stair or Ron Herald.

What would you do..? Or, better, what will you do?

(Thank you to Jamie for this poem)

Read Comments

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Comments

  1. Paradoxical Theory of Change: Change comes when we become more of who we are, not who we think we should be (ref: Beisser – Gestalt psychotherapist)

    Think I’ll keep working on that, everything else just seems to follow…

    Reply
  2. What an inspiring poem.
    Travel the around the world, starting with cycling up Africa in 2013 – AMPED!!

    Reply
  3. Tracy Chapman – ‘If you knew that you would die today, would you change?”

    Reply
  4. graham k Posted

    listen less to what “society” says is right, listen to my heart when it is trying to tell me something is wrong …and be a wee bit more selfish.

    Reply
  5. Raph Taylor Posted

    I look forward to all the unexpected things ahead of me: the unknowns and surprises, the wrong turns and mistakes, and the things I do where my heart leads.

    So, in this vein, if I lived my life anew, I would hope to have no recollection of what I might have hoped for, giving me the best opportunity for all the above…

    Reply
  6. ‘You can only live to be a hundred if you give up the things that make you want to live to be 100’ – Woody Allen

    Reply
  7. Jamie Posted

    People tend to regret the things that did not do more than the ones that they did.

    Reply
  8. Wow, what a great poem, really makes you think. To echo others above, definitely worry less about what society deems I ‘should’ be doing, and more of what my gut tells me to do.

    Reply

 
 

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