My Next Life...

This would be my luck!

For the past couple of days, I have been pondering what form I would like my next life to be. You see, I don't believe in heaven or hell or any Supreme Being/God, but I do believe in reincarnation. I wrote about my past lives last August, but now I'm more interested in creating a "future life" wish list. You see, my current life has been ... erm ... well ... let's just say less than spectacular. I'm not complaining or anything - just stating a simple fact. As I mentioned before, I'm certainly being punished for some horrendous deed from a previous incarnation. Therefore, I have all but decided that coming back as a human is pretty far down my list. Here's my wish list - in order - of what my next manifestation should be:

1. A zoo polar bear:  When I lived in NYC, I used to go to the Central Park Zoo a lot. It was one of my favorite places to visit where I'd hang out, watch the polar bears (Gus and Ida - sadly Ida was euthanized in 2011 due to liver cancer) and I would think "now, there's the life."  What's so appealing? You get to swim in your own swimming pool with tons of toys to play with. Sleep whenever you like. Someone brings you food on a regular basis so you don't have to forage for your own. People love you and take lots of photos of you. C'mon. Is there anything better? And no, I do not want to live in the wild and fend for myself. Plus the arctic is way too effing cold!
2. A domestic cat or dog: Observing my own cat, Lotta, makes me want to be either a domestic cat or dog. Seriously, this is a good life to lead - particularly for cats. Cats sleep 13-14 hours a day, get fed regularly, have lots of toys to play with (at least in my house), an owner who adores them, and the run of the household. Dogs have a very similar life. I'm leaning toward a cat over a dog simply because with my luck I'd end up with an owner who breeds dogs for fighting.
3. A dolphin: Being a swimmer at heart, I can imagine spending all day in the ocean swimming and diving through the water. What a nice life. Although being caught in a fishing net would suck. I suppose I could be a performing dolphin at SeaWold, but I think that wouldn't be nearly as much fun as a dolphin in the wild. Much too limiting of a swimming area.
4. A koala: Koalas are seriously cute mammals. Their lives seems to be so mellow; there's very little stress for the koala. They have plenty of food, few predators, and 22 hours of sleep a day - sounds like a decent life. Plus I would get a chance to live in Australia.
5. A butterfly: I know butterflies don't live very long (in their adult stage from a week to nearly a year depending on the species), but I like the idea of being some sort of flying animal and I think butterflies are so pretty. Plus I recently learned through a friend that butterflies taste with their feet so that would be interesting to experience. Maybe if I'm just unique enough a lepidopterist will take an interest and study me.

I actually have a few other species that I could add to the list but these are my top 5. I suppose if for some reason I couldn't be one of the above (or any of the others on my list), but am required by some law of nature to come back as a human, then I would want to come back as a woman and hopefully improve on the mistakes that I made in this life.

What are you thoughts on this subject? Do you believe in reincarnation? What would you like your next life to be?