Memories are always personal ‘invasions’ into our now. They are sometimes fun, sometimes painful, sometimes they are reminders of how you handled a similar situation in the past. Actually you don’t necessarily control the emergence of memories – they can come unbidden. The aspect we control is what we do once the memory emerges. How do you handle your memories? Are they old friends? Are they enemies?
Some people remember only the good things while others don’t remember anything but the bad and then there are others who remember both but choose to focus. I’m in the latter category, which is a conscious decision, and tend to focus on the pleasant, uplifting memories. It’s not that I don’t remember the negative, I just choose to think on the positive. However, I do try to learn from the negative – the operative word is, ‘try’.
Memories can be aides in our decision making process. Remembering how we handled a ‘similar’ situation can give us information about options we can consider in the current one… even, or perhaps especially, when the previous decision was ‘unsuccessful’. But don’t make this your sole basis for decisions making because no two situations are precisely the same. There is a caveat – memories can also be slightly faulty. Even within a memory we sometimes remember what we want (need?) to remember. In the process of remembering we really need to stop long enough to make certain of the ‘facts’.
The point is that each day we build memories. As I think about them, I don’t think I’ve ever had a boring memory.
