The Way We Were has to be one of my all-time favorite movies. It’s one of those that leaves the audience wishing for what used to be and wondering if it ever will be again. Barbra Streisand sang it best in the theme song of the movie, “…if we had the chance to do it all again, tell me would we? Could we?”
Who hasn’t imagined the possibility of doing it all over again, to step back into those photographs hanging on the walls of our homes, to hear the voice of a loved one no longer on Earth, to relive, to change…oh the possibilities.
I had one of those days recently. We all have them. Days when we long to return to what could’ve been, should’ve been, would’ve been…if only.
My grandmother used to say, “If a frog had wings he wouldn’t hit his bottom when he jumped.” The image of such brought laughter to me as a child. I would question her, “But Mama Dolly, a frog doesn’t have wings!”
“Exactly,” she would answer. Responding to my confused expression, Mama Dolly would lean close to my ear and whisper, “If a frog had wings, he wouldn’t be a frog.”
I had the pleasure of teaching all six of my children to drive. I’ve spent the majority of my life as a taxi cab service but with no fare. Each time one gained independence, it brought relief and anxiety all at the same time.
I would often remind them, “Glance in your mirrors off and on so that you know what’s behind you but keep your eyes on the road ahead.”
The more memories we have behind us, the more likely we are to look back and wonder if only we’d made this decision…if only we’d taken this turn…if only we’d been in this place and not that place…if only we had wings then… Every experience good or bad imprints our souls to create the people we are today. And today’s experiences will impact the people we are becoming.
Memories are our rearview mirrors. They serve to give us glances at the past, reminders of where we’ve been; however, to move forward, we have to keep our eyes on the road ahead.
Charles Kettering, inventor of the incubator for premature infants, freon for air-conditioners, and head researcher for GM wrote, “My interest is in the future because I am going to spend the rest of my life there.”
And if only we had the chance to do it all over again?
Then, we wouldn’t be who we are today.
