It didn’t happen
Your view of the past is your own personal movie. It runs on a loop in your brain. Those memories come from what you think happened. Sometimes these moments are created by pictures or stories. There is a whole lot of stuff captured that never gets the recall chance. Humans can even think themselves into memories that never occurred. Remaking the past is a great pastime. Nostalgia is built on it. This isn’t necessarily bad unless it keeps the present and ultimately the future from including the truth. The brain may need to remake some of the ilk that sloppily remains in the corners of our thoughts. When cleaning out memories it might help to ask what good it will do to continue to take up that valuable portion of cells it is assigned. It may be that jettisoning some of the useless old views results in a clearer vision. Think about the difference in delight between seeing through those old, scratched sunglasses you have been meaning to replace and that fancy new pair that you vow never to damage. Same thing. Even better, the stuff that never should have been remembered can take its rightful place in the recycle bin. Think about it.
Oh say can you see
Option #1: Do you remember a bitter truth?
Option #2: What is the first memory you will toss out?
Option #3: Can you bring up your sweetest moment from the past?
That’s it. After you choose the option that best describes your memory retrieval system, take a few minutes to describe why you chose that option and what action, if any, may come next.
