Can we rewrite our memories?
Today I’m thankful for yesterdays. Not all yesterdays. Just like all tomorrows won’t necessarily be something to be thankful for, not all yesterdays are either. But at least tomorrows hold promise. Yesterdays only hold memories. We can’t rewrite memories. Or can we?
Our past is our past: the facts of it, but not necessarily our interpretations of it.
I’ve looked back on a lot of my yesterdays, even the ones I’d rather forget, and have come to understand their contribution to making me who I am. Without my yesterdays I wouldn’t have hope that I could handle my tomorrows.
For the most part, yesterdays hold no surprises. But we’ve all had those moments when someone or something opens a window to a past memory.
Sometimes we react to a person or a remark and we don’t know what triggered it. If we examined those reactions we would no doubt uncover a past experience as its source. There is a certain word that when I hear it, it catapults me back many years. Whether it’s in a movie, a book or a conversation, it takes me back to an experience as a teen-ager. The years have softened the “sting” of that word but it still unnerves me. I’ve never uttered the word myself.
Memories are called memories for a reason, they’re in the past. I’ve learned to “neutralize” the very hurtful ones. Yesterdays only have power over us if we allow it.
We can never fully understand anyone else’s yesterdays. We all have some painful yesterdays but we also have hope for our tomorrows. If your yesterdays include periods of depression or if you’re worried that your tomorrows might, remember you got through it then and you will again. Don’t be afraid to look back and gain strength from the past.
Depression quite often gets a foothold because we’ve let the past fester.
hope for tomorrow
Today will be your yesterday soon enough so make today count.
God bless and I hope you have a good day.
