Hindsight On Time

“Reflection Of Future”
Self-portrait, May 2022

Oh what a change in perspective can do. 

Our awareness and perception of reality is limited to what we have learned from the past and are experiencing in the present. Situations can feel all consuming, chaotic, and confusing because we cannot see through them or above them. 

The narration of our story is told in first person. Meaning the experiences we face are laid out before us from our own point of view. We know only what we are aware of in this very second. Therefore, it can be incredibly hard to see outside of where we are today. Moments we are living through can feel eternal and unbearable because we cannot see the end. 

Without the ability to be omniscient, we can only experience life as it comes in the form of day to day experiences. 

What we live through, however, will not last forever. Even if a situation feels like it will go on until the day we die, I must encourage you to remember that everything is temporary. 

We cannot remain the same. Time continues on. Days shift around us and our circumstances will ultimately change. 

As we continue along our timeline of events, our perspective too will shift and grow. We will learn new information and pull knowledge from a better field of view. Something that once looked one way will quite possibly come to be seen in a completely new light. 

In time we will no longer look at our situation from a present perspective, we will be able to see it from a grander view of how it fits in our timeline. Hindsight grants us the ability to witness our past through a new light. Remember that not every situation is as it seems and once we have made our way through it, we may begin to see it differently. 

What is a situation that appeared one way when living in it, but ended up looking a completely different way when you grew out of it?