Good times. Scary times. Better times. Worse times. Sometimes it involves people. Other times it involves situations. Wrapped in a story to give the person listening proper context.
Rich in detail, when we share with others what we remember, it usually makes us feel good. Either that we survived what was terrible at the time or that we miss what felt really special at some point in the past.
Sometimes it’s to connect. Other times it’s to boast. Most times it’s for us to re-live something that really made an impression on our lives.
Make these moments special, for those that share them, by being interested and engaged.
Where many run in to difficulty, is when remembering overtakes our ability to experience something new that is different yet powerful in making a new impression in our lives.
[pullquote]Remembering deceives us into clinging to what was and degrades our ability to accept and engage in what now is or can be.[/pullquote]Remembering is a great way to avoid mistakes that you have made in the past but terrible in trying to help push us through to a different (and hopefully better) uncertain tomorrow.
Remembering is different than reflection. Remembering is like looking at a video of what has taken place in our lives in our past while being a simple observer. Reflection involves being the director of a play, stopping the action frequently to question what is missing at that moment or whether a different action would take this video from the past into a different outcome that would have been hopefully better.
Reflection is much harder than simply remembering. You need to edit and re-write the things you remember to see how much you missed when you were in the middle of living it in the past.
Remembering uses our ego as a parade leader. Reflection asks our ego to hide so that we can see ourselves more honestly.
[pullquote]Remember to reflect and to not always simply remember.[/pullquote]Reflection can be a powerful bridge to a better tomorrow. If only we would use it. Not out of regret but of actively seeking out to learn more about our imperfection so that we can become aware of areas we need to improve in.
For everything begins and ends in our lives with who we are and what we choose. Enjoy remembering. But choose to reflect more often to strengthen who you can become.