Noting my thoughts.. It's been long..

Have fun reading!

Two elderly ladies were enjoying the sunshine on a park bench. They had been meeting at the same park every sunny day for over 12 years… chatting, and enjoying each other’s company.
One day, the younger of the two ladies, turns to the other and says, “Please don’t be angry with me, but I am embarrassed, after all these years, my memory is not what it used to be. . .What is your name? I just can’t remember.”
The older friend stares at her, looking very confused, says nothing for a while and finally says, “How soon do you need to know?”
Memory can be a frustrating thing. We remember things we wish we didn’t, and forget things we wish we remembered. It all feels a little out of your control. In the classic novel A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving writes,

Your memory is a monster; you forget—it doesn’t. It simply files things away. It keeps things for you, or hides things from you—and summons them to your recall with will of its own. You think you have a memory; but it has you!

This is mostly true, although we can control the focus of memory to a certain extent. It’s a beautiful thing if you can draw inspiration from the positive memories and find some healing and transformation in the difficult memories.

Memory and Gratitude
We can’t control memory, but we have more power than we often imagine. By focusing on gratitude, its amazing how motivating memories start to fill your mind space.
Memory is one of the basic ingredients of gratitude, which is in turn one of the basic ingredients of optimism. When I’m at funerals, listening to eulogies, it often strikes me that it would be SO powerful to tell each other’s stories like this while we are still alive. Imagine the gratitude if we took every opportunity to share memories and each other’s positive attributes while we are still around to hear it.
There is a funny story about a minister who is leading a memorial service. He calls on people to come forward and say a few nice words about the deceased. No one comes forward. He urges them, “Surely someone present today can say something appreciative!” Eventually a man comes to the microphone and says, “His brother was worse.”
In most cases, this is not a problem. Once someone has gone, memories come to us of good times shared and admirable qualities. They comfort and inspire us. These memories often lead to forgiveness and healing.

Have fun reading!