Restart

Starting over is common these days. It used to mean picking yourself up from a devastating, life-altering situation. These days it’s a way to cheat—to erase our blunders. People no longer need to learn from their self-made disasters or fateful circumstances. The world has gone mad—we cancel ourselves to become someone different.

My neighbor is on his third restart. Each time he opts into the minimal plan, he retains most of his memory. He remembers his birthplace and his family. He can choose which skills to keep and which to trash. If he is unhappy with the results, he restarts.

I do wonder, though, how all this restarting affects the brain. The scientists reassure us daily that there are mild side effects—nothing to worry about. My life is not as I’d hoped. I’m divorced, and I don’t have any children. I’m thirty years old, and my clock is ticking. I want children and a successful career. Restarting sounds like a better choice as the days pass me by.

My parents are dead, and I am an only child. Would it be better to take the full restart? If I decide on the full plan, I will not remember who I am or where I am from. I don’t possess many useful talents and will have the opportunity to receive higher education.

The Restart Institute offers fully paid college tuition to those who opt for the full restart. Most don’t take that option because of loved ones they want to remember. I don’t want or need to remember anyone. I’m disgusted with everyone I am close to.

My friends are worthless. Those who restarted several times never learned—they are in a loop of idiocy.

This would be my first restart. If I take the complete program, I won’t remember the mistakes I’ve made. Will I make the same silly errors in judgment? Is it in my genes? Will my personality be so different that I will succeed and love my life?

I’m not brave enough to wipe away my memories. Even the minimum plan erases more than half. I like who I am. I only wish for more; better things—a better life. No, I won’t restart. I’ll find a way to make my life more than what it is—no ominous shortcuts for me. I’ll continue the natural way.