Yesterday, I cleaned out a room in my house, throwing away things I’ve stuck back and have no use for. Why can’t we do that with our memories? Why can’t we just go through and discard what we don’t want and hang onto those that are priceless and dear? Why is that so very hard to do?
If you are like me, those bad memories that you wish you could forget and never think of again, keep rearing their ugly heads. “Look, you failed at this,” they hiss. “See how you missed the mark? Give up. There’s no use in trying.”
And those bright, shining memories? Well, they are as hard to hang onto as quicksilver. Even with the nice thoughts, that mean old mental detractor intrudes and promises that was my shining moment, never to be repeated.
Failures, defeats, mistakes, grief, sins, ugliness, disappointments all are pitiful things and no fit foundation for anyone to build on. They remind me of the foolish man in Scripture who built his house on the sand. Remember what happened when the storms came? Now, who would want to build a life on such unstable things?
Whereas, the other house, built on a solid foundation, stood firmly against the storms. But, that strong, positive base doesn’t just happen. It takes a great deal of work.
A memory check list: does it give me any sense of joy or hope? Does the memory make me want to pick up my pen (or sit at the computer) and try once more to write? Old, painful memories and past failures are like a cold, cloudy day. They make me want to curl up and go into hibernation.
My mother had a favorite saying. Anything negative or bad “should just slide off like water off a duck’s back.” Good advice.
Negativism, discouragement, condemnation, remorse, all are like junk from the attic. They should be thrown into the trash can and forgotten because that’s where they belong.
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