Great conversations with the Rear View Mirror

 There is a saying, “Hindsight is 20/20”.  Another, “Hindsight is wonderful. It’s always very easy to second guess after the fact.”

I have great conversations with the rear view mirror. I am probably the only one. You always say the right thing, at the right time, with the right facial look and the right tone of voice. I don’t. I get beyond the situation, sometimes for less than a minute and think, I should have said this, or used this approach, or kept my  mouth shut or better yet not even come here in the first place.   Our rear view windows seem to be always much cleaner than our windshields, less bug guts and less traffic. The truth is, we can’t go back but we can learn.  I rarely make the same mistake twice. I tend to look back with discouragement because I make such a big mess the first time, I won’t repeat that mess.  I should think of the walk through a muddy lane as a challenge to learn and try a new approach next time. I can always see what I should have done differently, but do I pray and ask God to help me prepare for the next time?   Rather than spending time worrying about what I should have done, just talk to the rear view mirror about how next time can be a positive and a great experience. The rear view mirror is usually clean because we don’t have sticky fingers all over it. The back window doesn’t have the bug guts and bird poop because the front window takes all the brunt of the wind. Remember that the beauty of the moment or what you think you see looks different from where you are sitting in the car.

I grew up sitting on Grandma’s lap in the back seat, right hand side of the red Impala. The road looked different from where I was sitting. All I saw was the white line and grandma’s smiling face. When I got bigger and couldn’t sit on Grandma anymore, so we didn’t hurt Grandma, I sat in the middle seat. Suddenly I could see the front window, part of the road and both sides where the ditches are. Eventually I progressed to the shot gun seat, and then driving. All in the same car (well the impala was gone and we had a green Ford wagon then) but when we change our position in the car, looking at how we are driving, living and the decisions we make changes. My conversations with the rear view mirror are different now.

Just something to think about. God doesn’t want us looking backwards all the time. See where you have come, change what you can and do it different next time. That’s what the Holy Spirit does best; changes the future by how he teaches us from our past.