Give It Some Thought...

Did you ever consider the fact that without a memory, life would be almost pointless? The narrow fragment of the present moment would be the only thing that gave life meaning if we had no memory of the past. This moment, right now, is life and then--poof!--gone. Nothing remembered. Nothing retained. Just one moment. Poof. The next moment. Poof. There would be no color in life, no depth, no texture. We couldn't build on past experiences. We couldn't learn from past mistakes. We couldn't revisit wonderful places in our minds. We couldn't recall fun trips that we once took. People who had given life meaning...gone. Moments of majesty that took our breath away....gone. None of that. Just this one moment.

There are times when I'm doing something---sometimes just a mundane, unspecial thing---maybe it's with my kids, or just driving down the road I always drive, looking around at my town, and I realize: this will be a memory. It hits me: someday, I'm going to look back at this time with nostalgia and even though it isn't anything special, it will be a memory; this exact moment will be a memory that adds substance to my life.

It is true, and I believe, that we should live in the moment. Live our lives in the present. I believe that. But thank goodness we can remember the moment once it's gone; otherwise, no amount of living--no matter how fiercely and bravely in the present--would give it the kind of meaning that memory adds to it.

Good times, bad times, events in our own personal history---these memories write the story of us. Revel in them. Cherish them. They are the fabric of your life.