Have you heard that it’s highly likely that when you pass away  you will see images from your life flash before you? Does that scare you, does that excite you or are you indifferent?

If you’re not sure about what the answer to this question is, perhaps you could be open to an experiment.

To start off, let’s answer an easier, more mundane question. How long ago has it been since you uploaded the photos of your camera onto your computer?

If you’re like most people, the answer to that question is probably between 6 months to a year ago, and some people… even a couple of years ago. Typically, that’s not a good thing because if something happens to your camera… that’s months, if not yeeeears worth of precious memories that you’ve just lost… buuuuuuut for now, don’t worry. All is well.

Even Though All is Well Let’s Take Some Time to Reflect Upon What Your Photos Say About You

Take a moment to connect your camera to your computer right now. As a matter of fact, take some masking tape or make a label with the labeler maker to label that USB cable that connects your computer to your cable so that you can learn to treasure your life a little more. Think of it as your “lifeline” (you’ll read why in a minute).

Sit in a comfortable chair in front of your computer and start uploading. As you watch them flash before you, thing about this question: what do your photos say about you?

If you’re anything like most people this is what you’ll probably feel/think:

1. Woah… those picture are since my child’s last birthday. How many months has it been since I last uploaded the pictures?

2. Geesh, the camera is saying that I have thousands of photos to upload since my last upload! I can’t believe that I took this many! How is it possible to take thousands of photos? I take thousands of photos when I travel… but I’ve taken thousands of photos from ordinary moments. Maybe the ordinary moments are just as special. Plus, what would I want to look at…. a building of some sort or my loved ones’ accomplishments and celebrations?

3. Wow my child was so tiny!

4. My loved one looked different…. but great. I love them.

5. Ohh that outfit that my child/loved one was wearing was so adorable! They looked so cute in it!

6. I don’t think that my child fits into that outfit anymore. That’s so sad! They’ll never get to wear it again.

7. When was the last time that my child wore those pijamas? Was it that day that I took that picture? Oh my gosh, they’ll never get to wear that outfit again? Did I take photos of my child when he/she was wearing all of his/her cutest outfits?

8. Why aren’t there more pictures of me? Yep, I know, I know, I didn’t have more pictures taken because I didn’t want more. I thought I looked fat and/or ugly. Come to think of it, I didn’t look so bad after all. Heck, I might even look worse now. But should I have more pictures taken now… because in retrospect, I’m looking better now than I will in the future?

9. My child does look adorable when he/she cries. I can’t believe I’m even saying that!

10. My baby’s way of playing and asking for my attention is adorable. Am I always a responsive parent?

11. Whatever I bake or cook looks pretty, I should bake/cook more often.

12. I have been meaning to upload those pictures to my social media site. They would help somebody with this type of project.

13. My child’s messes look adorable. I shouldn’t have minded cleaning it up.

14. Perhaps I should hang or store my camera closer to my computer so that I can upload photos more often. The cable connecting my computer and my camera really is a lifeline that should invite me to do two things.

• #1- Treasure my family while they’re alive immensely and see each moment as something special and as a gift.
• #2- Regardless of how much or of how little you’re enjoying your life… uploading pictures should remind you of how fast time really does go by and how you have to be even more aware, more thankful, and more conscious of how the day to day living affects your quality of life and that of your loved ones.

Nowadays, we download pictures for the world to see. Yet what they see or don’t see is irrelevant. Their perception of you doesn’t matter. Your perception of yourself should matter. So instead of investing lots of time downloading a photo that portrays you in the best light, download the photos from your camera to your computer and take a moment to analyze them. Appreciate them. Relive them. All for the purpose of really analyzing visually what is going on in your life.

1) Are you and your significant other still making an effort to have photos where both of you come out or do you each come out on your photos, solo?

2) Will you miss not snapping a photo of you hugging your kids… all because you think you don’t look good enough?

3) What occasions do you think are worth preserving?

4) Is taking pictures a chore or a joy?

If you’re very, very honest, almost brutally honest with yourself, you’ll probably remember as you’re watching your pictures download, that you were, tense, nervous or fighting with a loved one shortly before or after some of each pictures. If you have children, what do you think that they’ll remember the most? The fake, forced, or real smile that they gave and that you gave at that event, or the argument and tension that occurred before, during or after that event.

Life, as grand as we think it is, is simply the essence of many little moments.

What are those moments for you?

Perhaps it’s important to analyze this now, when you still have time to change them. Your energy affects the energy of others. Remember that. Most importantly, your essence, which is what you egotistically refer to as your life, will remain in the lives of those whom most love you and were most interested in taking important pictures with you. What memories are you truly creating for them? What memories are you creating for yourself? Based on that, if indeed, your life flashes before you, at the end of your life:

• Will you feel that it was a life well lived and one which you loved?
• Will you feel that it was a life that was “okay”?
• Will you feel that it was a life that you wished you would have done things a little (or a lot) differently?

Think about that every day and live your life with that awareness. Try to not procrastinate to make your life better… make it better now… for you and for those that you most love and treasure.

 It’s Your Turn to Share Your Treasures With Us

After you’ve done the picture download activity? What do you think your photos show or not show about your life? What is one thing that you’ll now so that the pictures that you’re taking (based on the life you’re living) are worth the end-of-your-life picture reel?