Let’s say you had a once-in-history opportunity but you had to give up everything you have now, could you do it? And what would it take?
For example: Could you give up your family in order to have the powers of Superman? To be the first person to board an alien spacecraft to be taken to a new world? To discover the cure for cancer?
Is there a “greater good” that supersedes family and your current life that you would sacrifice everything for?
(I thought about this after watching “The Incredibles” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind.”)
Not anything so dramatic; people do it every day. Things in my life once conspired to make it possible (I’d actually say essential) for me to resign from my job, sell my possessions, give up my home, say goodbye to my family, and leave. I had nothing of my former life, and when I returned, my life (and I) had changed - so whilst I did return, I’ve never crossed the same river twice (so to speak). There was no guarantee when I went away that I ever would come back. One day I hope I’ll be able to do it again.
When I was younger, before I had a family of my own, I would have done the Roy Neary thing and gotten on the spaceship and left. Now, I wouldn’t do that. However, giving me the powers of Superman would seriously tempt me to give it all up. I still don’t know if I would do it though.
A better question would be, would I kill and eat my family raw in order to have the powers of Superman?
Before you answer, recall that in the comics, he can travel back and forth in time, visit other galaxies, etc. How cool would it be to fight a T-Rex barehanded?
Well, I didn’t mean my life stinks, exactly. Just that I don’t have a lot of attachments that couldn’t be walked away from. I would miss my cat, though.
Well, if I had youth (with some modest cash) offered to me, as long as those who depend on me were taken care of- then sure. My life is Good, but I ain’t getting any younger.
I’d gladly give up my life and family if it meant that my family would have good fortune and health for their entire lives. The Superman/space tourist stuff, probably not.
This reminds me of something I’ve reflected on for years.
It wasnt that long ago that when you moved, maybe even to just the next village over, that you DID leave behind most (and perhaps all) that you had known. Think how many folks came to America. Sure in theory they could go back home or homefolks could come visit but how common was that? Maybe some letters here and there if you were lucky. And in the times before reliable letter delivery not even that. Over human history many folks have for all practical purposes done what many consider today to be almost unthinkable.
Okay, so a number of you are responding with “not much” or something similar. Not my intention when starting this thread. However, if it wouldn’t take much, then why don’t you do it now? Why not chuck it all? Sure, people can say “it wouldn’t take much” but to really mean it? What’s holding you back then? What WOULD it take?
It wouldn’t take much for me either, though I’m not saying my life stinks because it doesn’t. However, I have made a few choices in recent years that I would like to undo.
The reason I haven’t is because it is much more difficult to start over now than it was even in my grandparents day. If I could pick a new name, hop on a freight train and arrive in a new city without any baggage from my current life, I’d do it in a second. Perhaps, some day I may do something like that, though not as completely as mentioned above.