September 6, 2023 AM BR

September 6, 2023 AM BR

On Perspective and Family History

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2 min read

BR is for bug report.

Life is a marathon, it's not a sprint. A lot of people in today's society live like life is a sprint, remaining focused only on those most immediate concerns. However, the ability to zoom out and see a larger picture grants one a superpower of perspective.

Life is also full of ups and downs. With a sprint-minded focus, that can be an extremely emotional experience, but a wider frame of reference allows one to accept all things in life with a dose of stoicism.

My son's homework yesterday was to learn about his family history. I pulled out the object of my inheritance, a large, ancient black case containing the genealogical work of my father.

We leafed through the old photographs, noting the Civil War veterans, the mothers who lost children, and more recent images of family members from the 1970s. I showed him a family tree that traced ancestors from their location of origin to the location of their death.

At bedtime, I asked him, "What did you think of our discoveries?"

"Our family has traveled a long distance! From Scotland, to Ireland, to America. I think I'll be the next one to travel," he replied.

"Where will you go to?"

"Asia sounds interesting to me," he answered.

So an even wider perspective can frame our lives in the context of our lineage and allow us to imagine even greater feats in our lives, even when we are young.