IF you had the opportunity to relive your entire life from the very beginning, would you take it? Would you let the stars be realigned and time be turned back for a chance to change the person you are today? Shockingly, for many of us, the idea of reliving our lives can seem quite enchanting. We might discover that we are willing to go through every moment of struggle and hard work all over again, just to redo some of the choices that we regret. Perhaps this is because we have discovered that the pain of regret is often much greater and more unbearable than the fatigue of labour.

It is easy to fall into a stream of thought like this, where we focus on what we ‘might’ have done, or what we ‘could’ have done in different situations that have already passed. This way of thinking, however, is not too different from the act of attempting to swim against the flow of the current in a powerful river. Using our thoughts, we struggle against the natural flow of time while we try to live productively, creating an unfortunate cycle. Our thoughts keep us trapped in our errors, so that we refuse to start anything new for fear of failing again. It is simply impossible for us to reach any destination in this manner. In fact, it is more likely that we will find ourselves drowning under pressure, or at least stagnating in place.

The only way for us to overcome this is to accept that we do not always need to destroy something and start from scratch to correct an error or achieve perfection.

We often believe that new beginnings have the special power to lead to perfection. So, we constantly destroy our progress and wait for a chance to restart a task, hoping that this will lead to perfection. For instance, when we fail to keep our resolutions, we wait until the new year to try again. When our day starts off poorly, we spend the rest of it waiting for the next day to begin. When we do not perform well in an exam, we wait for a new semester to begin studying again. Perfection does not come from destroying our work for the sake of repetition. Perfection begins at acceptance, and acceptance comes from within. This means we must be willing to forgive ourselves and be comfortable stepping forward into the future, even if our present is not as flawless as we would like.

The skills that come naturally to us today, such as walking or speaking, were once crucial milestones that required trial and error to achieve. Could you imagine where we would be right now if we believed that our lives were ruined every time we fell down, or we struggled to pronounce a word as a child? We might be stuck in the very same spot to this day! If we are too busy trying to redo and perfect every step we take and every word we say, we may never truly have the chance to move forward or say anything impactful.

Just like everyone else, we are living life for the very first time. This means we will make mistakes and find ourselves in destinations we hoped we would never reach. Yet, as long as we are alive, time flows forward, and whether we accept it or not, we will move along with it. The only way for us to grow is to accept that we may not get a perfect opportunity to start over. Even if we do get such an opportunity, it is entirely up to us what we are able to achieve with it.

In the present, we must make the most of the progress we have achieved so far, even if it means accepting some imperfections. If we persevere and move ahead despite our inhibitions and fear of failure, we will suddenly find ourselves living the life we have always wanted. It does not take starting from scratch to achieve our dreams.