We've all lived many times before, but- as my friend sunfell points out- most of those lives will have been short- some very short indeed. In any era but the present- and then only in developed nations- it has been a real achievement for a body (especially a female body) to make it to adulthood- and a rare one for it to win through to old age. We'll have had all sorts of experiences over the centuries- of war, peace, wealth, poverty, achievement, failure- but old age won't be one we'll have gone through very often. It's a privilege, a prize- and we owe it to our earlier selves- who wanted it but hardly ever got it- to tackle it in a positive spirit, to savour it, to get everything out of it we can.
sunfell points out- most of those lives will have been short- some very short indeed. In any era but the present- and then only in developed nations- it has been a real achievement for a body (especially a female body) to make it to adulthood- and a rare one for it to win through to old age. We'll have had all sorts of experiences over the centuries- of war, peace, wealth, poverty, achievement, failure- but old age won't be one we'll have gone through very often. It's a privilege, a prize- and we owe it to our earlier selves- who wanted it but hardly ever got it- to tackle it in a positive spirit, to savour it, to get everything out of it we can. 