If we knew the Future in the Past

How would our lives be different if we knew things before they happened?

If we knew that a particular moment was the last time we would see or talk to someone, would that change the way we spent that moment? Or rather, because it would mean that because we always knew when something was going to be a last time, how would we change the things we do? Would we not bother getting to know someone because we know the friendship is destined to end? Would we not pull that all-nighter because we know we will graduate summa cum laude? Would we decide not to leave, knowing that we'd never see someone again?

Or, would we be forced to be their friend, pull the all-night, and leave simply because we know that if we don't, we're actually changing the future? Does knowing the future eliminate the existence of free will because we have no choice but to do what the future is telling us must happen?

We approach time as being chronological but in a world where we know when something will happen before it does, time would be cyclical. There would be no changing the future simply because that future is dependent upon what happens in the past, which for us, is the current moment.

While I don't think I would want to know when something will happen before it does, I don't think it could hurt to know when something will be the last. Actually, I take it back. We wouldn't hug each other as tight if we knew exactly when we'd see each other again. We wouldn't tell people how much they mean to us if we knew that we would be able to say it for another 30 years. Not knowing is what keeps us sharing, but at the same time, we don't always appreciate those moments because we often assume they will not be the last. We don't look at each other and say how much we care with real feeling every time because we believe that in a few hours, a few days, a few weeks from now, we will have the opportunity to say it again. We don't watch another car drive away. We don't see each other beyond just looking. We don't listen beyond just hearing.

What if we did those things without knowing when it would be our last? Because when we don't get that chance again, it affects us all differently but it's often what hurts the most. The one thing we didn't get to say or do. Because often, while we did it, while we cared and said so, we took those moments for granted and didn't make sure that that last time was treated like the last time. We didn't get the end, the goodbye we'd wanted. If we could know when we needed to have that moment, would we have it? Would we fight it? Would we look it in the eye and take it in? Would we avoid it?

How would we view every moment differently if we knew what we would see when we looked back at it as a past moment once the future is the present?