“I’m a new soul, I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit ‘bout how to give and take. But since I came here, felt the joy and the fear, finding myself making every possible mistake! La-la la la, la-la-la-la la la…” Lyrics excerpted from the song “New Soul” by French-Israeli R&B/soul singer Yael Naïm, released in the U.S. circa 2008.
“My biggest mistake… was being born!” How many, when faced with dire duress, have lamented this sad, self-pitying sentiment or have heard others lament the same? Or perchance a variation on the theme “wishing” you or they’d never been born? (You or themselves not being born, not others; that’s a dark subject for another day). Well, from a theoretical logical paradox perspective one must ponder, how do you or they know this desire hasn’t already been adhered to or your or their wish been previously granted?
Consider this: if someone desires to undo their “mistake” of being born (via wish) and it were granted, then they would have already never been born. Having never been born they couldn’t have reached the point in life where they realized that this (being born), was a mistake. Ergo they wouldn’t be around to make the wish to not be around. Simply put: If you wish to not be born, then you’re not. But then you’re not around to wish to not be born, so you are. Through this theoretically logical view of the potential infinite loopholes encountered in the space time continuum, being born is a mistake we cannot undo but we can grow and rise above it.
Whilst on the subject of correcting one’s mistakes by nonexistence, there is another such matter, along similar lines, we must address here. Attempting to rectify one’s error, by process of elimination, is not a valid solution. Even if you are gone, the mistake can and will live on. And your absence will just be viewed as yet another. We won’t go into detail; you know what we’re talking about if it applies, so just don’t. It doesn’t and won’t solve anything.
Okay, so obviously we’ve no choice but to live up to the mistake of being born. (And the alternative is not an option or solution). But what about mistakes made beyond that pivotal fixed point in time?
We’ve heard, “to err is human” and “everybody makes mistakes” and blah blah blah. The thing they forget to tell you (that is only realized after the fact), is that “mistake” is past tense. It can’t be one till it’s already made and if not made it doesn’t exist. Honestly, being told that everybody else (the human race as a whole), screws up doesn’t offer much consolation.
When we realize we’ve made a mistake it’s in our nature to try and immediately find a way to correct it. However, sometimes the realization (admittance) of error on our part is long in coming and can become complicated with additional mistakes and bad judgments made along the way. These mistakes are based on or made due to our original wrong turn. If the mistakes are high and insurmountably uncorrectable we want to just make it magically go away. However, more often than not, we are told we have to find a way to live with our mistakes and learn from them.
That actually sucks. Damned to suffer for all eternity… and maybe even longer, based on one mistake? If it was an illegal mistake and harmed others, maybe you have it coming. But should poor life choices constitute a life sentence?
There is a play on words that offers some indirect source of solution. This being, “2 wrongs don’t make a right, but 3 lefts do”. Pause here: literally consider that for a moment.
First left, from your current direction: and you’ve turned away from your mistake(s), allowing for a clearer perspective.
2nd left: parallel backwards down the course of your life which has incurred since your mistake — you’re learning here.
3rd left: perpendicular through mistake zeros catalyst point.
At the intersection you must face your mistake head-on and accept that it’s just a fixed-point in time that you can’t change. But you can control which route it takes from here. Even if it can’t be undone, at least you’re headed in the right direction.
I welcome almost all questions and comments via FOCUS, or E-mail me at [email protected].
Hope to hear from ya, until then try and stay focused. See ya.
