To Think Too Much About Memories Is To Live Less
Living in our memories is limiting. To not enjoy the present is not to take advantage of it because this is the opportunity to experience things. Life is not about remembering; it’s about going forward, not backward. To think too much about memories and be stuck between the past and the future is to pretend that the present does not exist.
Remembering is an inherent part of life and often inevitable. In a way, memories are a way to hold on to things we love, who we are and what we cannot lose. It is to hold on to what has touched us deeply. But thinking too much about memories is never good.
Memories are misleading because they are colored by events from the various traps of the past and the mind. The differences between false memories and genuine ones are the same as with precious stones: the false ones are the ones that seem most authentic, the ones that shine the most.
Writer, screenwriter and director Ray Loriga said in his book “Tokyo Doesn’t Love Us Anymore” something that researchers have warned us: “Memory is like the dumbest of dogs, you throw a stick and it picks up anything.”
In an interview, someone asked Albert Einstein what he did when he got a new idea. For example, if he wrote it down on paper or in a special notebook. The researcher answered firmly: “When I get a new idea, I do not forget it.” And that’s true. When something makes us excited, it is almost impossible to forget it.
Therefore, we remember what is really important and what makes us excited, because it activates areas and circuits in the brain that work to retain this memory. The problem is that the brain often retains what we should forget. Nothing cements a memory as strongly as a desire to forget it.
Reverse psychology warns us that forgetfulness is necessary to save relevant memories. In the end, it is possible that our memories are not as confusing as we think, and actually give us something more than the stick we threw away.
Pleasure is the flower that blooms when we live, act or do. With it, we build memories every day, which will be the perfume that lasts. The happiest of memories are the moments that ended exactly when they should, without dragging on.
Therefore, we do not remember the days, but we do remember the moments. That is why we should create new experiences over and over again. The richness of life lies in the memories we continue to create. Constantly acting is difficult, and even more so if we get stuck in the comfort zone. But we have to do it to live intensely.
Although we have a tangible body and are able to perceive the outside world with all our senses, we are used to living in our senses. But we have to make a decision. We can spend our entire lives remembering what has happened in the past and how it made us feel; but we can also take control of our experiences, and of course our emotions. We can only enjoy our existence if we do.
Thinking too much about memories is not the key to living; instead, one must think, fantasize, and expect less. To accept what we have and nothing more. To live in the moment without letting ourselves be distracted by the traps of the mind.
In general, we always prepare to live, but we never live. But life should work the other way around. Happiness does not exist in another place, but in the present, here and now. Always remember that.
