If Cats Disappeared From the World

   I recently read Genki Kawamura's If Cats Disappeared From the World, a short novel that follows the main character as he receives the untimely notice that he'll die immediately unless he agrees to the devil's terms of making one thing disappear from the world each day.  Cell phones and clocks and movies disappear, each buying the protagonist one additional day, and the book is a reflection on how those items change our lives and what really matters when faced with impending death.  

  It's a short book, and one that inevitably leads to deep thoughts about relationships and possessions, how we spend our time and what impressions we leave upon one another in this life.  I wouldn't recommend this book if you're looking for a light read, but it's helpful if you're looking for the chance to think some bigger thoughts about how you want to spend your time and where you'd like to invest.  There's some beautiful thoughts about the role pets play in our lives and how they allow us to deepen our relationships with one another.  

  The most thoughtful part of the book to me is a short discussion at the end about regrets.  As someone who often spends time wondering 'what if', the main character reflects that "there's a certain beauty in regrets.  They're proof of having lived."

  I've spent a lot of time thinking about this.  Every choice leaves the possibility of wondering what might have happened if one had made the other choice, but the fact that we have the opportunity to make the choices we do is a blessing, and what a gift it is to be alive and make choices and move forward based on the best information we have.