"Life, that can shower you with so much splendour, is unremittingly cruel to those who have given up."--Stephen Fry.
There's a profound secret I've discovered,it is that life's rules aren't as rigid as one might think.What men can or cannot do really is all in our heads.In the star trek, the next generation episode "Tapestry" Picard initially dies in an attack, and is offered a chance to go back in time and correct the critical juncture by playing it safe, thus enabling to lead a long life and survive the attack in the process.He returns to his time to find that he is no longer the captain of the enterprise, but a lowly Lieutainant junior grade in the astrophysics department.As he repents having changed his past and seeing Q's rationale, returns to the past and puts things back the way they were.
Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard : Having a good laugh now, Q? Does it amuse you to think of me living out the rest of my life as a dreary man in a tedious job?
Q : I gave you something most mortals never experience: a second chance at life. And now all you can do is complain?
Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard : I can't live out my days as that person. That man is bereft of passion... and imagination! That is not who *I* am!
Q : Au contraire! He is the person you wanted to be: one who was less arrogant and undisciplined in his youth, one who was less like me... The Jean-Luc Picard you wanted to be, the one who did NOT fight the Nausicaan, had quite a different career from the one you remember. That Picard never had a brush with death, never came face-to-face with his own mortality, never realized how fragile life is, or how important each moment must be. So his life never came into focus. He drifted through much of his career, with no plan or agenda, going from one assignment to the next, never seizing the opportunities that presented themselves. He never led the away team on Milika III to save the ambassador; or take charge of the Stargazer's bridge when its captain was killed. And no one ever offered him a command. He learned to play it safe. And he never, ever, got noticed by anyone.
Q : I gave you something most mortals never experience: a second chance at life. And now all you can do is complain?
Lt. J.G. Jean-Luc Picard : I can't live out my days as that person. That man is bereft of passion... and imagination! That is not who *I* am!
Q : Au contraire! He is the person you wanted to be: one who was less arrogant and undisciplined in his youth, one who was less like me... The Jean-Luc Picard you wanted to be, the one who did NOT fight the Nausicaan, had quite a different career from the one you remember. That Picard never had a brush with death, never came face-to-face with his own mortality, never realized how fragile life is, or how important each moment must be. So his life never came into focus. He drifted through much of his career, with no plan or agenda, going from one assignment to the next, never seizing the opportunities that presented themselves. He never led the away team on Milika III to save the ambassador; or take charge of the Stargazer's bridge when its captain was killed. And no one ever offered him a command. He learned to play it safe. And he never, ever, got noticed by anyone.
As I watched, I was struck by how remarkably it paralleled my own life in many instances(not all), as there are many instances where I too have wished to go back and rectify mistakes I have made, take back things I have said, not take a particular risk, not break a particular rule,basically be as I was expected to be...someone who played it safe, always obeyed, always agreed with the status quo.I am thankful that somewhere along the line, I did rebel,much to the chagrin of many.I firmly believe that unquestioned acceptance of anything, is wrong, and unquestioned acceptance of everything is lunacy.
Too few take the opportunity to swim against the stream, to take on the system,the society at large.It is a deplorable thing indeed.To quote Thomas Jefferson
“Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear”
Why is it that people shrink from thinking?That they trap themselves in the same illusory cage that they believe their predecessors constructed especially for them?Indeed, life's rules are not as rigid as we might expect, but not arbitrary, and certainly not simple.It is like a system of roads that move, the road to a particular destination may be encountered oft, and at different stages, perhaps along the route to different destination as well,but the greatest advantage man has is free will, he is free to choose,choose what road he will travel, what beasts he will encounter,what mountains he will climb, whether he will climb, whether he will slay the beasts or be slain... life isn't change... life is choice.
To summarise, making mistakes is alright, the more the merrier, repetition of the mistakes is a sin.
