I wish I were invisible... I wish I was Superman (or pick your favorite superhero).... I wish I were omniscient... I wish I could see the future.... The many responses to a simple little question... "If you could ask the Almighty for one super power what would that be?" More often than not the answer comes spontaneously... as if it was a question we have asked ourselves over and over again. But to think about it even if this question is thrown at us out of the blue, the answer pops out effortlessly.
The reason for the above "phenomenon", if I may say so (ok ok.. a really big word for describing something rather insignificant) is simple. Situations we face in our life sometimes overwhelm us and drive us to moments of utter desperation when normal measures that the human mind can come up with appear to bear no fruit and then we start thinking of super powers which may aid us in overcoming whatever difficulties we may be facing.
Guess my prologue is long enough so it's time for me to launch into the main story. The super power I want. The one power I crave is the ability to get into people's heads and see what is going on in there... In other words being able to read people's minds. It's not that difficult when the person is around you and you know him/her really well so much so that you can gauge what the person is thinking from just the look in the eyes. But when it comes to dealing with a closed book, boy it can be a Herculean task alright! Sometimes you would feel that you are making some headway while at other times you feel you are in front of a thick wall you are unable to breach. The situation is just as bad or perhaps worse when that person is far away. Sitting thousands of miles away, it is almost impossible to penetrate that person's thoughts and understand what is on his or her mind.
Life would be so much simpler if we could get into other people's heads. There would be no room for any kind of misunderstanding or doubt. Everything would go smoothly. No one would knowingly hurt anyone and if someone is sulking, one could get into that person's head and know exactly what is bothering him or her.
But now that I think about it, I guess life would become a tad dull with this power. The beauty of life lies in its unpredictability. And the human factor is what makes it so very interesting. Agreed it can lead to frustrations at times but then think about the bright side... You can be at the receiving end of pleasant surprises which others may plan for you which would no longer remain a surprise if you could get into their heads and see the idea being formed anyways. How boring! Ah well, it pretty much boils down to the "two sides of a coin" factor. It's a balance. All said and done... guess I'm happy the way I am, not being able to force myself into people's heads... at least for now, until the next time I face a desperate situation...
5 comments:
Strange that i had the same thought.. I wanted the same power, but arrived at the same conclusion..
Nah, i dont want to read peoples minds.. I want the power to make people happy.. to make people laugh.. With each passing day, I've realised what a difficult job that is!
Nice this was Rupsha but ask me - I'd still want to have the ability to read minds. Life for me would've been simpler.
What hurts us most is those misunderstandings and dilemmas when you are unable to comprehend what n why the other person is doing - that problem would be eliminated.
Not reading minds would give you happines but reading minds would save you from sadness - I'd anyday gamble for the latter part !
its an interesting power to possess, but as you said it has its downsides. since we are already in the world of hypotheticals, how abt that power kicks in only when the times are blue, thus eliminating the possibility of u "predicting" surprises for yourself.
on a more serious note, however, the power you describe is something that comes naturally the longer and better you get to know a person. some things just fall into place, and eventually nothing remains a secret. true, this is an extreme case, but for any case less than this, are u sure u want to know what the person is thinking?
yes... there are times when even though you know the person well, circumstances are such that you can't gauge what he/she may be thinking... and as I mentioned in my post.. this problem becomes particularly pronounced when distance comes into the picture too...
distance takes the blame for way too many things...
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