Life is Like a Camera
by L.D. Kirklin
Recently, I was given a sign for my office wall that reads:
“Life is like a camera: Focus on what’s important. Capture the good times. Develop from the negatives. And if things don’t work out, take another shot.”
I don’t know who came up with those pieces of advice, but I do know that there is a lot of truth and wisdom in them. I also know that those pieces of advice are often easier read than done.
Focus on what’s important:
As a photographer, focus is one of the major tools I use to determine the course and purpose of a visual story. However, in life, focus is one of the major tools that affects the course and outcome of each day. Where we choose to place our focus can either create fog or clear it.
If we focus on what we don’t have, we will overlook our current and bountiful blessings. If we focus on what we don’t like about ourselves, we will miss the fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Where we choose to place our focus, and yes, it is a choice, makes all the difference, good or bad.
Capture the good times:
One of the most rewarding things as a photographer is to capture a moment that someone wants to keep. Family portraits, weddings, and other special events tend to equal the good times we want to commemorate. In life, however, if we focus correctly, our good times will prove too numerous to count. Morning coffee with a friend, a quiet stroll in nature, laughs around a fire pit … in short, the everyday moments that make up life … well, there isn’t a wall created that could display that many pictures.
Of course, if our lens is aimed at the wrong things, we miss out on those moments, and life begins to seem unbearable. We start seeing only the “have to” aspects of life … dishes, laundry, bills … and we begin to believe that good times no longer exist for us to capture. We start to believe that life has lost its meaning because we overlook the things that make life meaningful, like true friendships, deep conversations, and a hand to hold when we need one.
Develop from the negatives:
In the days of film photography, the images captured on the film were called negatives because what was light appeared dark and what was dark appeared light. Using light sensitive chemicals, photo technicians would develop pictures from those negatives, and, in turn, produce positives.
Life is a lot like processing film; there will be negative experiences. Problems will arise. Relationships will struggle. Money will be scarce. Heartaches will happen. Though difficult, all those negative experiences have the potential to produce positive outcomes if we choose to properly allow The Light into our darkrooms.
If things don’t work out, take another shot!
If you ask any honest photographer, you will learn that for every twenty images taken, we might keep one. It’s generally not because the other nineteen shots are bad, but rather they just don’t capture the essence we saw when we took the pictures. Try as we might, some shots just don’t turn out like we expect.
No matter our individual life experiences, I have the feeling we’ve all made choices, taken chances, and made decisions that didn’t end up working out like we anticipated. Whether it was taking the wrong job or passing up the right one, buying the wrong vehicle or investing in the wrong company, there is something that we consider a mistake and wish we could take back or do differently.
While mistakes in life are not always as easily erased as pictures off a memory card, they still do not have to define us. Can you imagine if Henry Ford just gave up after his first auto company failed? Or if the Wright brothers stopped trying after their first airplane didn’t fly? We would certainly be walking a lot more than we do! No, our mistakes do not define us, but how we handle them does.
You know, the more I think about it the more I agree with that sign on my office wall. Life really is like a camera, and what we choose to focus on becomes the lens we use to capture life. If we only focus on the negatives without working to turn them into positives, we will spend every day wanting to erase our memory cards…and that, my friends, is no way to live the gift of life.
Will it always be easy to focus on what’s important, to capture the good times, develop from the negatives, or to have the courage to take another shot? No … but it will always be worth it!
Never underestimate the power of perspective.
