Magic Lamp

Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters.

If I were to find a magic lamp and meet the genie, I would have exhaust his wish-granting power. But of course, there will only be three wishes. I could ask for a car or to be a millionaire or travel the world in three days, but that is not what I needed. Instead of asking something material, I would ask the genie to grant me three chances at turning back time.

I'm always fascinated at the fact that if I have to choose just one skill, it would be the ability to turn back time. Time is a gift, a luxury, a curse, and a traitor all rolled into one. Funny, how our day largely depends on time, not in moments. We measure productivity by the time we spent clicking on our laptops or swinging from one meeting to another. Funny, how we called ourselves lazy if we let hours passed without doing anything.

After deliberately thinking, I only want one wish and that's the ability to turn back time or travel to the past. I'm scared of the future that's why I'm better off with the past. I've always wanted to control time because I felt that my wrong deeds outweigh my right ones, and I want to correct them. I've always felt that I did not use my life well back then and it still haunts me sometimes. Of course, the genie would say three wishes are the maximum but he would grant provided that I only talk to two people from my past and would not change any event from it.

I was about to complain that it is unfair, if I were to have that power, I would have changed every failure to success. But I just shrugged it off, better to have something than nothing at all.

 The first person that came into my mind is my late grandfather. If I were to rewind one day from days I spent with him, it would be Christmas Eve, the day before I lost him. Everyone in the house is busy, I'll look for my grandpa, and I will find him in the veranda, reading the papers as usual. I will hug him like it was the first time, hug him so hard that he'll almost faint, and hug him like there's no tomorrow. Right at this moment, I realized how much I'm missing him. I wish that my grandfather is still here so he can hug me back.

He will laugh and ask me why I hugged him like that, that his bones almost broke. I wish we can recreate his last day and be given a chance to play the remote controlled car I have as present on that Christmas. While playing, I wish to hear from him again that I have a bright future ahead of me, that I'll be the best in my field.

After my time with my grandfather, time will transport me to my high school graduation. The second person is my senior self. I wish to see how happy  I am with my friends, posing for photos with our diplomas on our hands at that moment. I wish to hear him say that it's the best day ever. I wish that I can warn him that days will not be easy, that life will not be easy once he steps out of his toga. I wish I can remind him that whatever it is you decide to do make sure that you'll learn from it even if you fail or if it will cost a lot. I told him to be calm and think first before he acts, that its okay to enjoy life but he must set a goal in his life. As mentioned in one of my favorite games,"everything is permitted" meaning your free to do anything but you must think about the outcome of your actions. .

Having the ability to turn back time is very tempting. But for me, it is life-altering. Time changes people.