A LETTER FROM CHRIS SUAREZ

Your FAVORITE RERUNS

Doing something new is promoted, encouraged, and glorified. We have all heard of the benefits that show up when we are willing to put ourselves in new environments, have new conversations, try new activities. There is no denying the value that comes from “new”. 

With that being true, this week I have found some real value and growth in revisiting a familiar environment, repeating some conversations, and reenacting past activities. 

My family and I spent a few days in Barcelona, Spain last week. It’s a country and city we have been to more than a few times. Collectively we have probably spent a few months there. We certainly always try new spots, meet new people, and do new things each time we return. This time though we just did all of our favorite things. We went back to our favorite places to eat. We returned to our favorite shops. We walked through our favorite parks. I went on my favorite runs. We stayed in our favorite neighborhood.

My biggest take-away? 

It’s good to see how different we have become over time, yet also enlightening to see how in some ways not much has changed. For fun, we found a few of our favorite spots where we have some of our favorite family photos. We decided to randomly recreate the photo from the past on this trip. As funny and comical as it was actually recreating some of those, it actually held some real value. The simple act of recreating a few of our past photos was not just funny, but made me stop and realize how quickly time goes by. It gave me some incredible perspective on how we each saw things differently this trip than previous trips. We enjoyed things differently this time. We interacted with each other and our environment differently this time. 

Taking some time to recreate an experience after a period of time has gone by or lapsed allows us to see how we have changed or the people around us have changed. I saw the changes and growth in my daughters - who they were and who they’ve become over the last seven years. I also was able to see changes in myself that have occurred during that time. If our goals that we set for ourselves are just milestones on the journey to who we are becoming, taking some time to see yourself and those you love in situations from the past is important. It allows us to see if we are on the path to becoming the person we want to be; and if our children are becoming the human beings you are raising them to become. Instead of only putting yourself in brand new situations, use a repeat of a past experience as an opportunity to gauge or scale the breadth or magnitude of your growth. 

Recreating moments lived in the past brought perspective to how far we have come as a family, what we have accomplished together thus far, how our relationships have grown and matured, and where we are on the path of becoming the parents, children, partners we set out to be. 

Go recreate an experience you have had in the past - whether on your own to gauge your progress or with your loved ones to check in on the journey. 

Chris Suarez