10 years from now...

If give the opportunity to have a one-minute glance at your life 10 years from now, would you take it? Why or why not?

For some, contemplating the future is wondering that the weather forecast will be for tomorrow. For others, it’s wondering if their life will unfold as per best laid plans. If given the opportunity to have a one-minute glance at your life 10 years from now, would you take it? Most of you said you wouldn’t peek…in fact, approximately 75% of you have ironclad wills of steel. Who are you people? Seriously, if someone was standing in front of me right now, with an offer to show me a one-minute highlight reel of my life 10 years from now, I’d have to club myself in the head and knock myself out cold in order to force myself not to look. Although fraught with peril, I’d rip into this package like a toddler hopped up on Red Bull. I’m not one for waiting, or staring a gift in the face…that, and I like to plan. (Translation: more than not, I temporarily forget that I’m not the one in charge. Cue fervent repetition of Forgive me Father for I have sinned.) Which got me thinking, perhaps my desire to peek requires further reflection and examination…that, or my complete lack of self-control requires medication.

I’ve thought about this one some more – my strong desire to take a peek if given the choice. Why, I wonder? What could I possibly find out that would change how I life my live now? It’s quite the dilemma – if I choose to look now, then I could map out my future so as to ensure that the road ahead is as smooth (and long) as possible. Conversely, I could hold off and acknowledge that the future is not guaranteed, forcing me to embrace life and live each day as though it were my last.

I guess therein lies the philosophical debate. One could argue that if you’re living your life with purpose every day, then knowing shouldn’t make a difference. If I think that seeing something bad would force me to lead a fuller life now, then that begs the question as to why I’m not doing that now anyway. If I were to see that a loved one was no longer here, would I visit them more often now? Shouldn’t I be making time to spend with those I love, regardless of how long they’re here for? And maybe I’d want to know the end result of my bad habits over the years – the cumulative result of poor eating, too many years of smoking and drinking, and the complete lack of exercise. We all know that indulging in these things is like playing with fire - I guess in the end, we just want to know if we really do get burnt. The biggest downfall of looking? I would miss out on the fun of imagining what might be coming my way. Not knowing what the future holds is like having one giant present handed to you each and every day - and what a reminder to enjoy it. Maybe the lyrics to the popular song from 1956 said it best: que sera, sera, whatever will be, will...the future's not ours to see, que sera sera.

Here forthwith are your responses to whether or not you’d take a peek.

Never. It would restrict me from living my life today to its fullest. Plus, I like thinking that I will never be bald or grey.

Yes! I love planning.

Nope. I’m loving my current journey and I love the fact that it could change any minute. My future is to be discovered, not seen.

Oh, so very tempting. No I would take it because I like the surprise. If it was bad I’d stress about trying to fix it and might lose the lesson I’m supposed to be learning. If it was good I’d be in an even bigger hurry to get there and again miss all the triumphs and tribulations along the way.

Yes – because if I am failing, or unhealthy, or a burden I would do everything I can to change that.

No, I think it could possibly consume my thoughts too much if I knew and I would overthink every decision in my life.

NO! Takes away all the mystery!!!

No, because I would spend the next ten years worrying about how I will arrive at that state, or whether I could change what I saw, or whether witnessing it will make it change. Better to wait and see.

Nope. 10 years ago I would have said yes but now I know better.

No, I’d rather daydream about the possibilities.

No. I want to always live in the moment and knowing the future would inevitably change that.

No, I want to live in the moment and I would be scared that something I see in the future would spoil my today.

I would love the opportunity, but I wouldn’t take it because it would devastate me if it didn’t meet expectations, or it would get me so excited that I wouldn’t know how to muster up the discipline to get to that point in the future.

Yes. Because knowing, either way, would have to better than living with terror lurking at the back of my mind, or living with the guilt of not having made the most of every day.

No – life is an adventure and if I saw into the future I wouldn’t let things unfold because I would try to manipulate.

No, because what if it was not what I expected…I would not want the stress of constantly worrying about how to change it.

No, because I already have enough trouble living in the moment and enjoying it. I think a glance 10 years down the road may make me even worse!

I wouldn’t take it. Not knowing what’s ahead is the best part of life.

No, I think we should all enjoy the ride wherever life takes us.

Probably not – I think I just want life to unfold and I don’t want to worry about something in the future needlessly.

No, I like spontaneity and I like not knowing what tomorrow will bring.

Yes, I would take it. I often cheat and read the end of the book first. Life is about the ride, not the destination.

No. I’d rather worry about it than know.

Yes please, since I would love to see a few people one last time in case I knew. And, no thanks…as I understand it, that would feel a lot like a near-death experience so I’ll pass.

No. knowing any part of my future would have too much of an effect on how I live my life today.

No, because I am finally at a place in my life where I am able to live every day and be grateful for what I have. I don’t want to think about what I will or won’t have.

I wouldn’t. For this past year, I’ve been trying to focus on the present, and not make up stories about the future. A glimpse of the future would have me focusing on that, and I know I would be missing out on a lot of things in the present.

No, because I don’t believe that my future is already planned out in that level of detail. I believe we have a goal of purpose on this earth but I think we have freedom to set the course on how we get there, and for some of us, we may take many detours along the way.

Yes, I would. Because right now I feel like I am banging my head on a wall over and over and getting nowhere. I have a sinking feeling that it may never change. So if I could know that some of my dreams will come true, it would make me want to keep trying and giving it my all.

Yes, to see that I am going to be okay. I know that I am…I guess I just want to believe that I am going to be truly happy one day.

Of course I wouldn’t take the peep show! Who would read a book if they already knew the ending? All the stuff in between seems kind of useless then, doesn’t it?

No. As tempting as it is, I want to enjoy the ride and not be steered in any particular direction.

No. It would make me attempt to alter my current life and I would risk changing what I saw, maybe for the worse.

Yes. If I am not in a good place then I would know that I would need to do some things differently to get to where I want to be.

Nope. The fun is not knowing where your journey will take you, and you can’t live and enjoy life the same if you know too much.

No, it would lead to too many questions.

Yes, gladly.

Hmmmm...not sure about this one.

I would not. Because everything works out the way it is supposed to. Plus, if that glance revealed something that I didn’t like, I’d spend all of my time trying to change the outcome.

I would not look at my life in the future. I don’t know why I wouldn’t, but I am absolutely certain of this one. It’s set me thinking.

Nope. Our lives are gifts, meant to be taken one day at a time. Even if I was able to see into the future, it doesn’t mean that I could change anything about it.

No, I worry enough as it is, and if something wasn’t how I wanted it to be, I’d be sick for years!

Only if I was also given one opportunity to change it as well.

No. If it’s really good, knowing ahead of time would ruin the journey to get there. If it’s tough times, knowing ahead of time would ruin the journey to get there.

No, definitely not. I want to take each day as it comes.

I would not take it. I want to experience everything in life for the first time as it comes. I don’t want to be afraid to live my next 10 years if that one minute glance wasn’t good.

No, I would not take it. I don’t want to know what’s in the future.

Probably not. I might not have all my marbles.

No. It might make me lazy! Or I might not be around, who knows. We are not all given a long life, so each day is a gift.

Hell no! If my stomach grows as much in the next 10 years as it did in the last 10 years, it wouldn’t be a pretty one minute.

Yes, if the glance could guarantee a jam-packed show with the moments that escaped my memory, I would love that, because it would be like that moment reminiscing with an old friend when they tell you some awesome story…but unfortunately you can’t remember that it even happened!

Yes! I would look at my life. Heck, I read the end of the book after I have read the beginning. I would be so curious to know all that has happened.

No, I would not have a one-minute glance because I love my life and believe whatever I am doing at any given time is meant to be.

Yes, I would take it. If it’s good it will calm me, and if it’s bad then I better enjoy now and try to change it.

Absolutely – because I’m a fucking narcissist and I’m concerned that I’m on a course that’s selfish and dangerous to my family, and that it will leave me empty.

Yes. Then I can fix everything I need to work on.

Hell no. I don’t want to spend the next 10 years worrying about how I could change what I saw! Plus, I can’t get any better than this.

Shit no! I won’t be here.

No. Life can change so suddenly and I wouldn’t want to live every day anticipating something in my future (good or bad). It’s important to take each moment as it comes and be happy with what and who you have in the present.

Absolutely. I am proud of the woman I have become and I know that my life is in His hands. I’m not in a rush to grow older, but I am excited to see what else God has in store for me and my family.

Nope. If I didn’t like the “view” I’d spend the rest of those 10 years dreading what was coming. If I loved the “view”, I’d spend the next 10 years wishing it would hurry up and get here. Either way, I would waste TEN YEARS and not live in the moment.

No way! I like surprises.

Shit no! Because there’s very little chance I’ll still be in the highlight reel.