Rewinding, Unwinding, and Yep, Everything Matters

You know I love to read. Books are as important to me as my lattes, after my family and God, of course. You know what I mean.

So, of late, I have been devouring all these great books, almost as if time would run out before I have a chance to finish reading everything on my bookshelves and in my favorite bookstore. I was on a reading frenzie the past two days and now am kinda bummed that the event is cancelled.

Ron Currie Jr.'s book, Every Thing Matters, has taken the world by storm. He was due to be in St. Louis today at the City Museum for a reading. It was a collaborative effort by the four main independent bookstores, but alas, illness has prevented him from being here.

I am bummed out, hope he is ok, but bummed still the same. While this is not a book review, I was looking forward to expelling the air that has been caught in my stomach since getting on this roller coaster ride of a book! Then it got me to thinking, what if I had a chance to rewind my life, would I take it? Would certain events unfold differently?

Every.Thing.Does.Matter.

That is the point of the book, in a way. Even if Junior is plagued or blessed with the knowledge of the exact ending of earth, the point is that one day, we will all face our ending. It is the space in between, the dashes, that define this life.

Sometimes I think I would go back to being 17 for just a day. Or 21. Or 29. Or 35. Times when major things happened in my life. Maybe with the mind and wisdom I have now and go back in time to my mother's era or foremother's era, just to sit in their presence for a moment.

Moments. That is what life is made of. Precious minutes, seconds that evaporate. Gone. Never to be repeated. Lived. Over.

In the book, there is this voice in Junior's head that already knows what is going to happen, but still let's him make the choices he makes. In many beliefs, that voice is God Himself. HE is able to stop us from making foolish choices or things that will harm us, much like Junior going without sleep for days on end until his kidneys fail while trying to find a cure for his father's cancer. The inevitable happens. Time happens. Yet, God knows that HE created us in a way that allows us to make choices, decisions, and then HE waits patiently for us to remember that we all have a purpose.

My life journey has served to make me who I am today. Not sure I would rewind. I would not trade it for it has been my destiny.