Giving Old a Fresh Perspective

For the past five or six months, I've been purging a storage filled with thirty years of memories. It's strange how uncovering items from the past has felt like meeting old friends, reuniting with people, and reliving memories I thought were tucked away for good. My storage space has been like a time capsule of forgotten books; at one time, I was an avid reader, but now, I rely on Audible. If someone suggests a book, I head to Audible before even considering Amazon. And despite my attempts at decluttering, I can’t seem to part with these books, read or unread, autographed or not. They hold memories I can't replace.

Then there are the college papers, even textbooks, that I once thought would be lifetime references, this was long before I could just look things up on the Internet. But perhaps my most cherished find is a small book by Iyanla Vanzant called Acts of Faith. For years, I've set the goal of reading the Bible in a year, but my focus tends to drift. Still, I won’t give up, it remains something I truly want to accomplish. Instead, Acts of Faith is something I can turn to daily, and each time, its message feels fresh, like an “aha” moment. Somehow, each reading reveals something new, a wisdom that resonates differently over time.

This rediscovery of the old reminds me of how our professional skills are often revisited in new ways. Sometimes, an old method or idea suddenly feels relevant again or becomes the missing piece in tackling a current challenge. Sometimes, our goals get set aside, left on a shelf like an unread book. But there comes a time when we can pull them back down, revisit them, and use them in a new way—reshaping them for a different time and a better opportunity. What’s old can always be new again. Sometimes, it’s just about seeing it through new prescription glasses or even after a little corrective eye surgery.