Memories are who we used to be...not who we are.

I did some work yesterday, going through old pictures in order to put a photo album together for my parents' anniversary party this weekend. As I was going through the photos I came across several that I either had forgotten existed or didn't know ever existed.

So the project now has become trying to get all of those pictures scanned and put in to a digital format and get them identified as to the times and places and, in some cases, the people in them. While I expect it to be very time consuming, I think it will be fun to look through those pictures and remember some of the times that I can remember.

But it's also important to remember not to LIVE in the past. The past is what it is. Everything we've done in the past has played a part in making us who we are today. But we are who we are today. We're not who we once were. Too many times I see people trying to hang on to the person they once were. Everything in their life ends up referring back to that past life to the point where it almost upsets them not to be recognized as that person they once were.

When I was in high school I was a member of a group of Law Enforcement Explorers and while part of that group I applied and was selected to serve on a national committee where I met the head of every law enforcement agency as well as some state and local law enforcement agencies. After high school I joined the Army and served as a military policeman. After getting out of the Army I went to work in retail loss prevention and then to my current job as a public safety dispatcher. While all of those things have shaped me in to the person I am and molded my current career choice, none of those past jobs or positions or groups are who I am today. I am no longer on that committee working with the Director of the FBI or head of the Postal Inspection Services or Customs Service. I'm no longer a military policeman in the Army travelling the world and participating in field exercises. Those things that I did taught me a lot. They helped form my decision to work in my current profession. But they were a long time ago. They don't define who I am. My current profession doesn't define who I am either.

We can't live in the past. There's nothing wrong with remembering the past. There's nothing wrong with talking about who we used to be and things we used to do. But don't let those things be who you are today. Don't let yourself be defined today by who you USED TO BE. I'm not former military policeman Chris Burkhardt. I'm Chris Burkhardt, Christian, son, friend, uncle, brother, dispatcher, co-worker, guy driving down the street.