I don’t know where yours is, but I know exactly where mine is.
I inadvertently found myself driving through my Memory Lane the other week, about two hours away by car.
I wasn’t trying to go back in time. I was just in the area, and suddenly I was noticing what was the same, what had changed, and what I never expected to see.
For me, Memory Lane is the place I was inhabiting this earth when I was 10 years old.
Ten.
Where were you when you were 10? What were you doing? What were you thinking? What was your family like? What did you think your life was going to become?
We’ve all heard about the mythical Memory Lane, that mysterious storage facility where our memories apparently get archived and, over time, enhanced. For better or worse. Some memories probably improve with age. Others seem to get louder.
Driving through mine did something I didn’t expect. Thoughts kept showing up. One street led to another memory. Then another. It was a little like a time machine, except I didn’t have to worry about accidentally changing history. I had already lived it.
And there was something oddly amusing about seeing the old place with my current eyes. The 10-year-old me saw one world. I see another now.
Same roads.
Different Wayne.
Then I had a thought that seemed almost too simple.
I’m still here.
Whatever life was like at 10. Good. Difficult. Confusing. Fun. Maybe all of those depending on the day. Somehow that kid kept going.
How far have I come?
I’m not exactly sure how to measure that. But driving around where I lived at 10 made the question much more interesting.
Shift/Insight
Memory Lane isn’t only about remembering what happened back then. Sometimes going back helps us notice the person who came home.
Today’s Nudge
Visit your Memory Lane if you can. If you can’t, spend five minutes there in your head. Picture yourself at 10. What was that kid thinking? What would surprise that kid about you today?
Faith Connection
I don’t pretend to understand what God was doing in every year between 10 and now. But remembering that I’m still here makes me wonder what He was doing that I never noticed.
And what He may be doing now.