Daily Gratitude: All too often we get lost in the past- in our memories…but also in our interpretation of our memories. For, that’s all it is – an interpretation. My brother and I would remember event from our childhood in such completely different ways that you’d wonder if we really did grow up in the same household. And I’m sure my parents would have remembered these events in other ways too. It’s so easy to get lost in the past and “reminisce” about things. Did you know, though, that after each “remembering”, the memory changes. It now has added and deleted substance depending on our mood and other thoughts going on in our head at the time we’re doing that remembering. We are creating new memories on top of the old memories. Weird, huh? The good part of this is that you can restructure memories you don’t like (perhaps of some trauma) AND you can change how you respond to them (your emotions). The most important thing to hold on to, however, is the recognition that you are in the present and all the bad things that happened “back then” aren’t occurring right now. Think of it as if you’re watching a movie. You can change the channel or even turn it all off and return to the “now”. It’s your choice. Remember that you have control of your thoughts and you can do something about it – even when it seems you’re being held hostage to one (or more) memories. You can leave the area. Never forget that.