Looking back to see ahead…what an interesting concept. I was reading a photography blog from Scott Davenport, and he was talking about that. He was looking back over photos he had taken from a certain area as a way to determine what he would do differently in the photos he took this next trip. Looking back to see ahead….what a wonderful life attitude! Excuse the play on photography here, but I think it really lends itself to making this point.
I have been doing something similar this week in reviewing some of my pictures taken in Norway a couple of years ago. I found that I have been doing something similar. I have looked at them and thoughts such as:
- I would change this angle this time.
- I should change the lighting for that shot if I have the opportunity.
- I want to look for the unusual shots more.
- I want to get more cultural type shots.
- Maybe I should consider taking my tripod so I have more control on the distance shots.
- Maybe I want to get up early to catch the sunrise on the fjord, rather than let my tired jet-lagged body sleep a bit longer.
- I know I will catch the sunsets for sure, but maybe from different angles or places?
Many of my photos last time were from a moving car. I couldn’t expect them to stop all the time for my photo taking. Thus, I took man of them on the move. So I am looking back to see what I did, so that, (you know I love those words) I can see ahead to this trip and make adjustments.
What IF we treated looking back on our lives the same way? We all have things we would change from back there if we could. So… what if we look back on those experiences and we made some adjustments in our lives at present?
- We changed our perspective.
- We make different decisions then we did then.
- We see how this or that didn’t work.
- We change our self-talk.
Even as he talked about the post processing of the photos, I thought, “Well, we can choose to process various hardships in our lives in a different way.” How is that, you ask?
- We can bring more light to the dark places.
- We can take out the glaring light and bring them into more balance by taking the highlights down to see better what is in that picture.
- We can use reflective light to bring light up more on the subject.
- We can lay over a filter on a certain experience which changes how we see it; brings out the best in that photo of our life.
- We could involve the Stabilizer in our lives more, and ask Him to give us stability to stand firm with what we see, so that we might see more clearly
what can be ahead. - We can shine more of the Light into our lives so we don’t have to live in the dark, or fear it. He will light up the dark places at times, so we can understand them better, and heal from them.
- We have Him as our spot remover, our healer over an area of our lives that seems to distract us from the what our life picture can look like. It may be something that doesn’t belong in the picture. He can remove it. The devil wants us looking through a crack, when God wants to show us our lives without the hindrances of our perspective.
We could use that philosophy with great success if we looked at our lives a little more this way. Looking back to see ahead…it gives us the hope that it can be different looking ahead. We can learn by looking back, and we don’t have to stay there. However, the gaze back can be of great benefit to us. We may have some areas in our lives that have left lasting consequences for us. My hope is that you grasp the idea that we can still can change how it turns out, as well as, how we respond to those circumstances, if we ask for guidance.
I guess for me, it has pretty much been the way I have lived my life. I just didn’t have those words to put with the idea. However, this fits me. Life has had MANY challenges for me! Some real hard knocks. But I know, that I know, the Holy Spirit helps me see things for the truth that they are, not for a lie from the devil that makes me think its how it always will to be.
So this week, be good to yourself. Look back with the purpose of seeing ahead. As it has been said so many times, “I am not what I want to be, but thank God I’m not what I was.” I am growing. I am looking ahead having learned from looking back. I can have hope looking at what has made my life album, and see things in a different perspective than I have before…through the eyes of my past. Then, I can truly look ahead to what it can be, with God’s help.
So here’s looking back with you, to see ahead! May you find freedom. I know that the years I have ahead, can still be the best I have lived yet!
Until next time,
~~JoAnn~~
journeysofmyheart.com 