The Eternal Dilemma

We definitely have our share of knowledge when it comes to eternity or what most of us refer to as 'forever'. In movies, in books and even in that love letter you once sent or received back in high school, you might have encountered the word or the concept of "everlasting".

But I sit here and ponder over this melancholic playlist, the thought came to my head bogging me to explore the idea of living as eternity would permit. If one day, the fountain of youth has been discovered and you have the chance to be an eternal being, would you take a sip from that miracle of a drink that surpasses even time itself? Would you?

Let's see, what does having to live forever entails? First thing that I could think of is escaping the inevitable end of every human beings, or every living thing for that matter. Imagine doing the things you like again and again, over and over again. Imagine not having to wish that ambitious thought " I wish that this moment would last forever". Picture in your mind, the happiest moment, that very instant that made you exalt with overwhelming joy. Now imagine that you can do or you can be in that moment whenever you please, maybe tomorrow, maybe the next month, next year or next decade. Wouldn't it be exhilarating?

I think not. Why? I think that the essence of a particular moment in our life, the meaning we put to it is inversely proportional to its rarity. We tend to cherish those "Once in a lifetime" things more than the things we can do on a moments notice or with few or little effort. For example, the celebration we do when a girl turns to a lady on her 18th bday is by far, more special than her birthday every single year. Having to marry the love of your life on that one special day.

Another thing I could think of that one could do if granted an eternal life is to travel. I am not fond of travelling, for real. I would rather waste my day at home, in front of the television or immerse myself in another world by reading a book instead of going to places and exerting so much of my energy in preparations and the commute. Although I am a self-proclaimed homebody, I have been to places, countries that are not my own home. Now if you have an immeasurable amount of time, you can travel the world countless of times. You can even explore any point on the globe and remap the whole world. The expenses will not even be a problem, why? Because there is no time limit in saving. Even if you are working a menial job earning the bare minimum, you can save up to a hundred million bucks, you have all the time you need. And later, if you wait long enough, travel beyond our own planet will not only be plausible but it will be the new norm.

Speaking of travelling outside the planet, the technology used in that will surely be mind-blowing. As it is, the technology involved in our day-to-day lives are changing in a way that most of us couldn't even cope up. It's so fast paced that the new mobile phone you are using today is the old mobile phone of tomorrow, and a few more decades from today, people might wonder what a mobile phone even is. So what more the technology in a few centuries forward? It is an exciting thought that everything we use today will be obsolete and will be considered "things of old" in the future.

However, every thing has two or more sides to it. A coin has 2 and I think being able to live forever has 2 sides as well, there's the good side and then the dreary side. I've already mentioned some of the good things that living for eternity and beyond may offer and now it's time to face the cold reality to it. The premise to this concept is living forever will only be applicable to you, and just you alone. If all of us could live forever then the word forever will lose it's meaning. It's just plain living.

Now can you imagine losing people dear to you one by one, again and again? You will feel that bitterness over and over again. And all the losses will stack up deep within you. Will you be strong enough to handle those? Or will you be painfully numb from all those sufferings you will have to endure? I can only imagine the cycle you will be stuck in. Meeting people, being attached to them, caring for them, loving them, only in the end, losing them .

This reminded me of that one film, "Bicentennial Man". It was a movie I had to watch and make a review of back in grade school. It was a journey of a robot who strived to be a human and lived through several generations. The ending was bittersweet because all through out his existence, he wanted to become a real human and the moment he became one he met the ultimate end of human being, his demise.

I think I would like to finish this one on this point, because going beyond means accessing my deeper thoughts and greyer area of my mind which could possibly cost me my current mental peace.

So to end, if you would be offered to live forever, would you? What is the reason so compelling that you will defy the very laws of life?

Lead image : Photo by Pixabay from Pexels