ALL I NEED IN LIFE IS AN UNDO BUTTON (THREE PER DAY SHOULD BE ENOUGH)
Andrea Bischoff
Pediatric Colorectal Surgeon and Director International Center for Colorectal and Urogenital Care
Dreaming of what the ideal world would be like for each person is a good exercise. It helps to set up and achieve future goals.
In my ideal world, I would have three undo buttons per day that could be used upon my discretion and needs. The undo button in life would be exactly like the one in the word document; once you click it, the action that proceeded that moment simply did not happen anymore; nobody would have the power to save it, remember, or keep it; it would disappear from the galaxy like it didn’t ever happen at all.
By no means I am trying to give the false impression that I only do three improper things per day, but like everything in life, our inappropriate actions can be divided by categories, some are irrelevant; some are funny and therefore are worth the laugh, but SOME OF THEM, those are the ones that the undo button would be helpful…
I venture to think that the undo button would help relationships last longer because, in the end, love dies from the little improper things that could be easily taken care of with the undo button.
Of course, some rules would be necessary; rule number one would be that the undo button would only work within 24 hours, meaning that you cannot change your past with the undo button. Still, you could remove an unnecessary comment during a meeting, a rude phrase during an argument, an email, or a text message that, in retrospect, was better if it didn’t happen.
The other rule would be that the undo button would only work for words, spoken or written, not for actions. If you have kissed someone, the undo button will not work to reverse the action. The same if you hit someone, if you hit your car or if you made love to someone. Unfortunately, or I should say, fortunately, human interactions are the best in this life; they are necessary, they make us grow, and they are the essence of our species. If the undo button worked for actions, it would be a disaster, as we would lose control of our own lived experiences if others felt that they were a good use for the undo button.
Just to give an example about the two essential rules mentioned above, imagine that the undo button could be used for past actions, and suddenly your ex-boyfriend clicked on it, and the relationship didn’t happen anymore? What if that relationship was such an important one that set up all the standards for what you don’t want in your future relationships? With a simple click, that person that had a vital role in your life would be able to erase its existence from your life. Then you would probably need another “negative role model” to again create your standards… What a waste of time! No question that rules are important even when we are dreaming of an ideal world.
Andrea Bischoff
Director Health Systems Engineering at Southeast Health
3yI liked your imagination and exploration of the concept of the "undo" button in life along with governing rules. One other lens that may determine the rules of the use of "undo" would be the reason for undo - is it to do it better? or to not do it at all? Essentially, I feel that the "undo" concept is a manifestation of either regret or of the drive for perfection. If it is used for the latter, I think it is worthwhile. If it is for the former, I don't agree it will add value, because as you said, we would not learn from our mistakes or potentially erase the concept of mistakes. Interesting and thought provoking article.
Consultant Paediatric Surgeon Clinical leadership | Quality Assurance, Lean Six Sigma, Medical Expert
3yLife has no “Undo button”, but we do get the chance to Fix the things we’ve done Before It’s too late. Make the right choice. There is no going back. Even Gmail also gives us five seconds to undo our mistakes. ( May be we can use them before we Hit “Send”.) Pause. Breathe. Then Act.