Future

Do you wish you could see into the future?  The Chief and I watched a movie the other night.  It was very interesting.  It was about how our life is already written for us.  There is already a plan.  Because I am a Christian, I believe this to be true.  I believe God knows all, and knows how my life is going to play out.  I don’t think he has a book that has my path on it, but I think he knows.  In the movie, something happened that caused a ripple in the path.  The man met a woman that he wasn’t supposed to meet.  He was supposed to spill coffee on his shirt, which was going to delay him in his morning and force him to take a later bus.  The man that was supposed to cause him to spill the coffee, fell asleep.  SO, the coffee never spilled and he got on the bus and met this woman.  He falls in love with her, of course.  Later, the people that follow his path (these people make sure he is doing what is according to plan), tell him that he wasn’t supposed to meet this woman.  They tell him he wasn’t supposed to be with her.  They then tell him, if he choses to go off the path (his path will then have to be rewritten/rerouted) that his career and her career will never be the success that was planned for both of them.  She is a dancer, and he is running for office.  They tell him that if he chooses to be with her, she will be a dance teacher for six-year-olds instead of becoming the famous dancer that she has worked her whole life for.  So he is given a choice.  He can walk away, and let her be successful (because he loves her enough to walk away) or he can selfishly chose to be with her.  The second option means neither of them will be able to become what they have worked their whole lives for.  What would you do?  What would you do if you could see your future?  The Chief said he wouldn’t want to know.  I think I would.  If I could have known the direction my first marriage was heading, would I have married him, or even gone out on a second date?  I am not sure.  I wouldn’t have Little Man if I had made the decision to walk away.  But what about other things?  Is it bad to know the future?  Is it bad to want to know the future?  Think of all the divorces that would go away!  Think of all the sicknesses that would disappear?  If you knew you would get liver cancer and die at the age of 40, would you have taken that first drink?  If you knew you were going to end up that abortion, would you have had that one night stand?  What about the car accident?  Would you have gotten behind that wheel if you had known it was going to end with someone hurt?  Let’s go even smaller.  If you knew you were going to fail that test, wouldn’t you have studied for it?  
In many ways this comes down to making good decisions the first time around.  We don’t get a second chance at rewriting the future.  We don’t get to know what happens as a result of our decision until we make that decision. Life would sure be easier if you could see ahead, but we can’t.  I guess we just have to take the one shot we have, and try to get it right the first time!