I’m not sure if it’s the coming to the end of my 5th decade or if it’s just some soulful living as of late but I find myself more and more thinking about my life, my choices, what’s gone on and what’s still to come. So humor me if you will while I ponder out loud some things I believe have the power to shed some light on our view of the past and potentially improve the days ahead.
It’s understandable and very common that most of us view our memories as “the way things happened in the past.” More accurately however, our memories are “the way we remember the way things happened in the past” and there is often a big difference between the two.
I have a few recommendation regarding how we embrace memories,
- Keep in mind that our memories are from the first person perspective and our view commonly fails to take into full account the perspective, feelings and circumstances of those that were part of the narrative. It’s very easy to attach or omit perspectives, agendas and intentions that were not necessarily accurate or present.
- Know that the memories we chose to anchor the chapters and scenes of our lives are NOT the complete back story of our past, they are just the ones, for a variety of reasons, we hung/hang on to.
- Consider expanding the breath and depth of your working memories to include positive chapters that for some reason or another got placed lower on the list and let some of those those good and sweet experiences warm the inside of your heart and your head.
- Most importantly perhaps, don’t forget that today’s choices make tomorrow’s memories, live deliberately, live well and live with love.
Friendship, strength and honor,
Coach Cris
