Reason #49

As I've mentioned a few times this week, many changes are in store for the bank I work for. Today, we began cleaning up and "staging" our department. My employer has a rich history, therefore, we found a lot of pictures and photo albums spanning over 6 decades. I enjoyed looking through the pictures of the past and trying to imagine what it would have been like to be alive then. The best thing about pictures is that they usually capture happy moments. Even children know that when a camera is pointed in their direction, they are expected to smile.

As I thumbed through these old pictures of past employees, I had a good laugh at the outfits, hair styles, accessories, decor, and the color schemes. It seemed as if these pictures represented a simpler time in life. A time when gas prices weren't soaring through the roof, unemployment wasn't at an unfortunately high percent, technology wasn't ruling lives, there was less war, and people seemed to live out (or actually have) their morals and values. I realize that every decade has come with its own set of issues and problems, but when we look back and compare the past to our present, things look better in retrospect.

Sometimes I wish I had a time machine. More often than not, I seem to wish my life to go forward faster than it's moving, but today I'd like a time machine so I could go back in time. They say hindsight is 20/20 and boy is that true. If only we knew then what we know now. If only I knew then what I know now...

As I studied the individuals in those old photographs, I wondered what they would be like were they still around today. Some of them are still hanging around, and I wondered if their life panned out as they thought it would when they were photographed 25 years ago smiling with a silly hairstyle and abnormally large glasses. I wondered if they would feel sad when they looked back at these old photographs. I wondered if they, too, would wish for a time machine to go back.

Sometimes we'd like to go back to a simpler time. Sometimes we'd like to go back to a happier time. Sometimes we'd like to go back so that we can have a do-over.

I realized as I looked at those pictures how much things have changed. Not only had the outfits, hair styles, accessories, decor and color schemes changed, but the people had changed too. Sure, they were themselves just 25+ years younger, but I bet if they were to look at themselves in those pictures, they would see more than just an outward change.

Time. It waits for no one. Time moves forward and never moves back. The hands on the clock keep ticking and we can't do a thing to stop them. We can wish our time away and we can wish for it back, but time is consistently moving forward, so we have to as well.

I've changed. Physically, I look pretty much the same as I have since high school, but when I see myself now verses then, I see a change. A change made by time... good time and bad time. Time I regret, time I would like to take back, time I would like to change, time I would like to keep for a little longer, and time I would like to re-do. I also realize that 25 years of time will fly by faster than I expect, and when I look back at pictures and see my crazy hair style and outdated clothing, I want to see a woman who didn't let time slip away, who made the most of her time, and can happily say, "that was time well spent."

Time will tell...

 #49 - Because he has given me eternity, so I don't have to be worried about time.

"Consider what God has done:  Who can straighten what he has made crooked? When times are good, be happy; but when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, no one can discover anything about their future." - Ecclesiastes 7:13-14

Comments

Popular Posts