There's no doubt I can change a lot of things for myself but that is not why I want this power. I want to live in a kinder world. A place where people help each other cross the street and smile at you for no apparent reason. Blame it on the Hallmark movies I binge watch every holiday season, or on the fact that I dare to dream - I just think it can be.
One day. One superpower. I would give each person I interact with for that day, the chance to go back and visit their lives 5, 10 or 15 years ago. The opportunity to right a wrong, to apologize, or say they love someone, to think twice before taking - or quitting - their job that could have eventually changed the course of their life. The idea that, at some point, we have all been hurt from something or someone and we can change our view on life - well that is enough for me to share that "time travel" power. The cliche, "Would have, could have, didn't," rings true. We live such a guarded life - afraid to take chances, afraid to mess up, afraid of letting down a small circle of people that may care about us, that we take wrong turns trying to correct what we should have done in the first place. I'm not greedy. I am not selfish. I love too much - and I love hard! (My daughter gets this trait from me. Not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing but it ends up feeling like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.)
Reluctantly, I ponder the idea of leaving others in pain. It does not sit comfortable with me. If only someone could take the time to listen. If only someone had just 5 more minutes. That five minutes, a smile, a simple chat, a helping hand, could change a life. I think people need to be reminded, in a world of negativity right now, that humanity still exists and not to be afraid of kindness. Where everyone is on their own journey, we have plenty of room in our hearts and daily lives to go the extra mile for another. Why don't we do it? Why aren't we filling our bags with clothing that we don't need and donating them - just for them to sit on shelves and hangers in a dark closet? What about volunteering at schools or other places that are trying to do good in the world but need a little extra help because they don't have a budget to hire people? Why aren't we donating $1 or $5 to food pantries to help feed families in lower income areas? Does having thousands of dollars, or more, to yourself make you a bigger person? We know you worked hard for it. But it can do a heck of a lot more for a random 5 or 10 people than on a designer bag, or outfit. What about holding doors open for others as they leave a store? Offering to babysit a stressed out mother's children if we have more time and patience that they have - well that will change her life! Not just for that hour or two - but for years - because someone could have saved her patience to last a long time raising her children or help her when she was about to just throw in the towel instead of feeling helpless!
We are all "busy." We are all wanting, or needing, our own things. But living the way we are living right now is not cutting it. We are greedy and selfish and egocentric. There has got to be more in life than this. There has to! Otherwise, what the heck are we doing here - all going in different directions???? Rewind time and see where we were failed, or where we failed ourselves. That is what I would do for others, for one day, because it could change the world. Think about that crap.
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