Memories

I’m constantly in awe over the way the brain works. Recently I’ve been fascinated by memories. I have to stop and think for five minutes when trying to remember what I ate for lunch yesterday yet I can completely recite a song by heart that I first heard twenty years ago. It boggles my mind.

I don’t know why our brain works this way but I think it can be a good thing (blessing) as well as a disaster (curse). In the middle of living our everyday life something can suddenly trigger a powerful memory. It may be that you smell, see, or hear something and it instantly brings you back to another time and place. A good memory will elicit a smile or a laugh and maybe make your day a little brighter. However, a bad memory may elicit fear or agony and keep you stuck in a dark place which you would have rather avoided. Sometimes we can’t control these memories popping up. Sometimes we welcome them in by looking back at pictures or letting Facebook remind us of what we previously posted on that same day years earlier. Either way, going back in time can lead us down an interesting path. We might yearn for that time where life seemed easier and better. We might be left regretting the past and wishing we could redo things.

When life hits you with these memories stop and ask yourself what you can learn from looking back.