SOME HABITS ARE HARD TO BREAK

 It is sometimes a challenge, trying not to repeat myself in these late-life blog offerings. Still, in the course of nearly 300 posts that has occasionally happened……and it will happen again today. And why not, if that is where my aging mind leads me.

Case in point……today’s return to the wonders of ‘Remembering’ was triggered by our family’s recent Christmas Eve gathering, and the simple, but revealing game my daughter and daughters-in-law had us play. With the thirteen or fourteen of us gathered in the living room, our instructions were not at all complicated……one by one we were instructed to ”Describe your earliest memories of Christmas.”

It took a while, and a few stumbling starts, for each of us to follow our thoughts back to those memorable moments. Truth to tell, our responses ranged from humorous to poignant. But each of us, in our own way, was able to trace their way back to some special Christmas memory.

Later that evening my thoughts returned to that brief exercise, moving from those Christmas related memories to some of the other special recollections I have accumulated in the course of my years, and stored away in my sometimes fallible memory bank. 

Truth to tell, there are days when it seems that a sizable portion of my 'home-alone-all-day' hours are spent visiting, even reliving, some of the experiences that have delivered me to this point in my life journey. Seems to me that comes with the territory. After all, if you are like me you are blessed with a lot more ‘past’ than ‘future.’

Besides, in the days of our youth, before videos and a camera in every pocket, it was those memories passed down from one stage of life to the next that documented our personal histories. Now days it seems that once-reliable memory chain is not as functional as it used to be.

That seems to me a shame. After all, among other things ‘remembering’ is an effective way of conserving energy. ‘Doing,’or ‘redoing’ some of those things that were so special in their day is probably out of the question given my present physical capabilities. I know for sure that my eighty-eight year old body isn’t up to doing a lot of I remember.

Yet my octogenarian mind is usually able to reconstruct, replay, even relive many of those youthful adventures. Better yet, with a modest bit of editing I am sometimes able to inject a greater sense of satisfaction and accomplishment than I remember having the first time around.

Of course, there will moments of contradiction. To be sure those memories were born of reality…..at least as we experienced it. But even the most realistic bits of reality can gather new meaning over the years……reshaping and reemphasizing the original event……helping those moments fit more comfortably into the personal history we may have occasionally reedited to suit our needs.

Then there are those times when we must deal with a situation that reminds us of something we have faced before……only to realize that today’s responses, in today’s context, are no longer within reach, not the way they once were. Things have changed, and a changing world requires flexible reactions. Which has me wondering……how flexible is my memory?

Still, why shouldn’t we make ‘remembering’ a habit? If you are like me, dragging decades of memories behind you……some of them good, some not-so-good……why not revisit the lessons we learned along the way, especially the ones we wished we had learned better the first time.

It seems to me that our own memory profiles, the way we mark our path through life, are as uniquely personal as our fingerprints……a one-of-a-kind blend of experienced events, ideas, and persons that is ours alone ……always close at hand, ready to be revisited.

And beyond the emotional satisfaction of reliving good times, if you are one of those who believe that your earthly journey is meant to have a purpose, perhaps a review of the memories you have filed away over the the years will provide reminders of where your path was intended to lead.

In closing, I for one will remember 2024 for many reasons. Those twelve up-and-down months added their own input to my overflowing memory files. Still, I must confess that I am not too interested I reliving those often chaotic days. Instead, I will try to retrieve the memories worth saving, and move on toward the future. 

What say you? Does 'remembering' help you deal with the world we face each morning?