Some Things Can't Be Put Off

I was talking to a friend recently about scanning family photos. My position is that family photos are a physical manifestation of times and events that we want to remember. By scanning pictures into our computers and backing up our computer files, we can preserve those memories indefinitely, share them with friends and family and protect them against loss.

Now my friend is a smart guy, very reasonable and responsible. So imagine my surprise when he told me that he thinks that scanning the pictures would be a good idea but that there are just so many that it would be an impossible job. When I heard his reply, I didn't have an immediate answer for it - I've tackled big jobs before and, at first, they do seem like they will never end.

Then there is this quote:

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little."
  --  Edmund Burk

To me, there are two important ways in which this statement relates to the problem of scanning a large collection of family photos:

1. As with any long journey that is worthwhile, you have to take it one step at a time. If thinking about the thousands of steps makes you afraid to take the first one then you are well and truly stuck.
2. If you can only do a little, then prioritize. Surely you can find ten pictures whose loss would feel tragic. Scan those today and tomorrow see if you can find ten more. When you've scanned all of the pictures whose loss would be tragic, you can start on those whose loss would merely be extremely sad. In the end, you might find that a significant number of pictures aren't important enough to warrant scanning at all.

We all know that, at any moment, some disaster could happen. Fires, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes happen. People lose their homes and all of their belongings in these disasters - but you don't have to be one of them.