17 Again

If you could live your life over, what would you do differently?

The movie, 17 Again, gives you a chance to see what might happen if your parents were teenagers all over again... and going to your school.

It stars Zac Efron as Mike O'Donnell, a popular kid in his last year of high school who seemingly has it all going for him. A rising sports star, he gives it all away for a girl.

Fast forward 25 years, and 37 year-old Mike, played by Matthew Perry, finds his life is not exactly what he had expected.

He is separated from his wife, his career is going nowhere, and his kids despise him.

After getting passed up for yet another promotion at work, he wanders hopelessly around his old high school and reminisces over his awards, and a life he could have had.

While he is re-living his past, a mysterious school cleaner approaches. They remember how wonderful being young was, and wonder aloud how life would be living all over again.

The same cleaner is hanging from a bridge as Mike drives home. Mike rushes from his car but... The man suddenly vanishes and a rescue attempt becomes a long descent to a raging river below.

What Mike doesn't realise is his plunge will make him his 17 year-old self. And so... The adventure begins.

"How do you think your parents would cope if they were students at your school?"

  

How do you reckon your parents would cope being students at your school? Would they be well dressed and surrounded by friends?

Mike soon finds himself in that exact situation, re-enrolling in high school to finish a life he never had a chance to live. This time things are very different.

First, he is no longer king of cool. And second, his own kids go to his school.

He also discovers his daughter, Maggie, is not nearly as innocent as he once believed. In fact, she's dating an alpha male who is picking on his son, Alex.

Here's something for you to try next time you are around an old person. In fact, anyone over 30 will do. Tell him or her how hard life is... bullies, crushes, homework... and see how long before he or she is re-living good memories saying; The best years of your life is when you're young.

"Really?" you'd say.

They'd say how great not having many responsibilities is, and having life organised for you. They'd say the world is your oyster.

Now, an oyster is a clam-like sea animal, and has two highly calcified shells slammed closed around a kind of salty, squishy, snotty middle rich people like to eat. You get to the edible bit by stabbing it with a special oyster-stabbing knife.

The above image wouldn't come to mind for many people when saying the world is your oyster, but it might. They could be intending to communicate that the world is hard and reluctant to open up to you, but if you are very persuasive, or armed with a very pointy knife, you could receive for your efforts a salty, squishy, snotty sort of a prize.

And most people would not be thinking of the Ostreidae family of oysters described here. They would be speaking of the Pteriidae family, which produce pearls.

"The world for a teenager is like a pearl oyster"

  

The world for a teenager is like a pearl oyster... life can feel hard and closed, but... The pearl inside is definitely precious and valuable.

The problem is most of us don't know which oysters have salty goop and which have pearls. How sure are you of where you are going in life?

Heck, even Mike O'Donnell at 37 years-old, is wondering. The girl of his dreams, or college? A family or a career?

Like Mike, we all have choices. Unlike Mike, however, we will not get a chance to live our lives over. We will only ever be 17 once. We have to get our oysters open and we have to know which ones we should open.

Mike goes back to school convinced he should have cracked a "popular basketball star" oyster over a "husband and dad" oyster, but he is in for a surprise.

In fact, his most painful discovery is he hasn't been a very good father or husband. While basketball players can lose games and tournaments, shonky fathers and husbands can lose people they love.

And so, instead of chasing fame and Facebook friends, young Mike goes about humbly helping his wife and kids, none of whom have any idea who is really is.

Many of us wonder how life could have been. The good news is, while we can't change yesterday, we can decide what we do today and tomorrow.

"While we can't change yesterday, we can decide what we do today and tomorrow"

There may be lessons we need to learn from our past. There may be dreams we need to let go of, like Mike and his career. And we all have gems we need to cling to very, very tightly.

What are your snotty oysters? What are your pearl oysters?