What a Life!
Cats have nine lives, or so they say. And what do they do with each life? Do they come back as themselves and just continue on as if nothing has happened? Do they resurrect as a different cat, so that each life is spent as someone else? And if they do, do they retain the memories of their previous cat-life?
For me, I would love to have more than one life. That is, I would love to have more than one long life. I’m already planning for my 100th birthday and if I could do that 8 more times, that would be very cool.
Since this is my first life, I can only write about what I’ve experienced so far. I can share all of the good things and bad things that have happened throughout my years. I can tell you about the different people that I’ve met and friended. I can write about the places that I have gone to and some of the places I still hope to go to before I reach the end of this life. I can also write or talk about the experiences I still wish to have. It would help, if I knew I was going to have a next life, so I could plan for it and leave things in place for the next me.
When life two comes along, it would be great to have the knowledge of what happened in life one. It might help mitigate the mistakes made. It would also enhance the direction I go into. For example, knowing that I had been a storyteller and musician, I might attempt to start working on those skills at an earlier age in life two. I’m guessing that I would come into the world with the knowledge I already had, but not the skill, which would involve some physical attributes that I may not have starting out new again. I assume that this plan would repeat itself through lives 3-9.
Of course, it is possible that I come into the next life brand new, without the knowledge of the previous life. That would make my life just similar to the other lives I’ve had. Great quality with no substance. In that case, there really isn’t any reason to have nine lives since your past life can’t influence your present one.
Now what if your first 8 lives were independent of each other, but your 9th and last life was a recount and culmination of the previous eight. This way each life would be separate with its own experiences, good times, and bad. Each life unto itself would have its own persona. Then when the 9th life comes around, you would integrate all of what you have learned. You could tease out all of the different pluses and minuses. You could direct your last life to fill in the gaps you missed, enhance the ones you have, and become a well-rounded individual. You would be the respected elder, sought after for your wisdom, even at an early age. Of course, there would be a lot of logistics in organizing this last life, what with growing up, puberty, how you are dealt with knowing all you know. Who could teach you anything, except maybe the newest technology? And throughout all this, discovering which lives all the people you interact with are at. Would you be part of a ninth life association, A.F.T.E.R.A.L.L. (Association For The Elders Relishing Attaining Last Life)? And then when you reach the end of the 9th life, you would be able to leave with the satisfaction that you have done well and left a legacy behind.
Having more than one life could be fun and fulfilling. But it’s best not to dwell on that if I won’t be able to deal with it until my 9th life anyway. It’s best to make the best of this life that I can, while I’m still living it.
