Looking Back--

Looking Back--

Heard this on a commercial for a car.  "Someday your life will flash before your eyes.  Make it worth watching."  Wow!  That gives me something to think about.  And it has nothing to do with the car that I drive.  It has to do with a life lived.

Immediately I am thrown into a backward glance.  I see missed opportunities.  I see mistakes.  I see errors in judgement.  I remember dumb decisions.  I think about times when I could have offered a listening ear yet decided not to be involved.  Yes, that backward glance is an ouch.

Then I force myself to move to a more honest backward glance.  I stay there and remember so many wonderful life experiences.  I remember times when several paths presented themselves to me.  I stood looking at each one trying to ascertain which one was best.  The good thing about that is there were options.  I had choice.  Each path was good.  A few were better, and one was best.  Eventually I was able to make the decision.

Another lesson learned from that backward glance is the knowledge that I was able to learn from mistakes and move forward.  We all make mistakes.  Had there been no lesson learned, life would be quite different now.  We all have the option of learning from mistakes or coninuing to make the same one over and over.  It takes strength and perserverance to stay on the new track we set for ourselves.  Over time we can move to a new and better place when we learn from our mistakes.  Or we can stay locked in the same unending circle going absolutely nowhere.  Experiencing the same thing over and over.

Dumb decisions are just that.  Dumb.  They are usually not lethal.  But they make us cringe when we think about what we did or said.  We feel so stupid.  And we often tell ourselves how dumb we were.  Well, lighten up.  Those folks who know us know that occasionally goofy things escape from our mouths.  They do not represent who we are, or what we truly believe.  They are momentary lapses in smarts!  So, forgive yourself and others and move on.

The most difficult backward glance for me involves times when I could have stepped forward yet didn't.  I am sure at the time there were reasons for staying back.  However, stepping forward means there are opportunities to be a blessing to others and to be blessed by others.  Who wants to miss out on that?  Somewhere between the moves from Arkansas to Tennessee to Kentucky to Oregon to Illinois I learned that we get one chance at many opportunities.  And I grabbed that knowledge and ran with it.  Because of that, many people have crossed my path.  They have enriched my life.  They have taught me important lessons.  Had I chosen to stay inside the small universe of my life...I can't even imagine what my life would look like.  I am grateful and thankful for all those who allowed me to move within their circle, and who felt welcome in mine.

So, while that backward glance made me wince a bit, it also made me smile.  It forced me to be honest with who I am and look forward to whom I am becoming.  Looking back helps me see how I have grown.  All of the experiences of my life brought me to this place.  Absolutely--I would love to have avoided a few.  Some were very painful.  But they are all part of the fabric of a life.

What I really want is for the rest of my life to be worth watching.  I bet you do, too!