5 Minutes

If you had just 5 minutes to go back in time and spend it with just one person, whom would you choose?

For the past (almost) 6 years, that answer was a no-brainer for me.  With no agenda nor hope of changing the past, five minutes more with Dale would be the most precious gift.

So, as you can imagine, I was blown away when my mind had drifted the other day to a different thought.  I was at about minute 20 of my 30 minute run and my mind was busy keeping me from thinking about anything and everything besides the actual run when that question passed through my mind.  I was taken aback when I had a mental debate on whether I would like to spend 5 minutes with Dale or if I would like to go back in time and spend 5 minutes with John.

Remember, in my head, these 5 minutes are just meant to be spent with that person.  Conversation of course, but not in a manner that could change anything about the past, present, or future.  

It’s easy to understand why I would want 5 minutes more with Dale.  He is no longer here and that is something that I can never, ever have again.  So why would I possibly exchange that for 5 minutes with John?  I met John when he was 40. He basically lived a lifetime without me.  Most of his friends are now married with kids and I hear so many stories about their past and what they did and who they were.  I know that John has changed over the years and I don’t even know at what point I’d like to go back to meet him.  (Again, with no agenda of meeting him to date, etc.  but just to see him, to hear his voice, to have a simple conversation.)  However, the idea of being able to witness a brief moment of the man that I now call my husband, is intriguing.

However, when I told John about my mental debate he didn’t seem as intrigued by the idea.  He told me what I already knew.  Neither of us would have liked the other (atleast not to date) had we met in the past. Even if it was an innocent encounter, 5 minutes with John in the past, perhaps would have changed our entire future. Our paths were not meant to cross in the past for good reason.

It’s nice to think about going back into the past, just like it can be fun to look into the future.  The best we can do though, is to make the most of the present so that we never truly want to live anywhere but in the moment that we are in.

What would you do with 5 minutes?