What the Dickens? A Redemption Carol by Marc LeVine

I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. - Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol"

Live in the past, present and future? ?What did Charles Dickens mean by that??Perhaps, he left us a reminder that our lives are a customized tale beginning at birth and ending in death. As we go along, our pasts are being recorded in the book of life. We cannot change what was but we can learn from life's teachings and work harder to improve ourselves! There is still time!

We must begin by learning how to better live in the moment and make better choices. We must reflect more about on potential effects of our the words and actions on others. We must think before we hurt. The past has an excellent memory and records everything we say and do - good and bad.

The future is made up of concluded events and those unknowns we refer to as fate. Fate can be benign, sometimes volatile... and potentially final. Our lives are clearly interpreted by the future's analysis of our roles in every cause and effect with our fingerprints on it.?Therefore, the present is the most important period in our lives.?Here we design and forge what will become our highlights and summaries. Just as Jacob Marley forged the heavy chains he dragged behind him in death, we can create angel's wings.

We Are What We Make of Ourselves

Will we be remembered fondly or unkindly??It is our choice! If we helped others in caring and supportive ways, we should be viewed positively.?However, if we produced any hurt, the reverse will likely be true.

Admirable character traits will infinitely remain praiseworthy. Undesirable ones will always be deserving of public scorn.? All we can ask of the future are these two essential questions. Did we live a good life? Did we fulfill our roles as good citizens of the world? The answers will be revealing.

Consistent behavioral patterns are key in defining us. For example, those of us who routinely pitch-in to help our co-workers will remembered as team players.?Those who do not will have checked off the wrong box. How we make others feel becomes our individual legacies, like it or not. We do not get to write the reviews on our lives. They are written and shared by the "critics" we leave behind. They get the final word. Not only will the ways we chose to live be remembered in our obituaries, but also shared in our personal and business references. The latter case is critical as we continue to live our lives.

We cannot precisely predict the future but we can come close to imagining what it may look like as it relates to our participation and interactions with the world.?The future is nothing more than a “product” much like a computer hard drive. Garbage in…Garbage out.?What dedication, hard work, kindness, humility, and charity we put in during the present will likely result in a better future as it pertains to each of us... and for those others we may care about. It will let all others know who we are and also, who we once were.

Scrooge Learned His Lesson by Being "Ghosted"

Old man Scrooge learned these valuable lessons AFTER having been visited by three ghosts in a single night.?Were they really ghosts or personal contemplations and catharsis? ?The latter would have made for a very boring case study and not the classic tale Dickens intended.?Nonetheless, his message was just that.?We reap what we sow.?The average life expectancy in the United States is currently 74.5 years (we rank 53rd in the world, by the way).?But in Charles Dickens' time most people only lived to be about 40 years old. Ebenezer Scrooge was considered an old man at only 57 years of age when "A Christmas Carol" was written and was already living on borrowed time. We are much more fortunate to be gifted with nearly 20 additional years on average. ?Ergo, we have that much more time to work on improving ourselves and we should avail ourselves of doing so.

All of us who love “A Christmas Carol,” were relieved that Scrooge was finally able to change for the better. ?We are sure he died a much better person than he had previously been.?We learn this from Dickens own words.

He (Scrooge) did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world.

And… at the risk of plagiarizing Charles Dickens I say to all – “God Bless Us Everyone!”?

Are you an automation engineer looking for a job in the New Year?Visit:?www.thermosystems.com/careers

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The Author

Listen to Marc's latest interview on The AutomationBlog Podcast with Shawn Tierney.

Marc LeVine is a graduate of Syracuse (NY) University with a degree in Industrial Psychology, Marc is currently Talent Acquisitions and Learning and Development Lead at Thermo Systems. He is the recipient of the Excellence in Talent Acquisitions Award from HR Awards in 2021. His prior employment includes senior Human Resources and Staffing Industry management roles with Edgewood Properties in Piscataway, NJ, Brickforce Staffing in Edison, NJ, InfoPro Inc. in Woodbridge NJ and Plainsboro, NJ and Harvard Industries in Farmingdale, NJ, a former Fortune 500 company. He also served as Director of Human Resources for New Jersey Press, the parent company of the Asbury Park Press, Home News and Tribune and WKXW-NJ101.5. Earlier in his career, Marc served as Director of Career Services and Placement at Union Technical Institute in Eatontown and Neptune, NJ. In addition, Marc owned and operated Integrity Consulting Associates, a New Jersey based Human Resources and Social Media Marketing firm for 11 years. Marc also served as Council President in his hometown of Freehold Borough, NJ