3 Mechanisms by Which Memory Prevents Us from Forgetting the Past

Over time, our brain can distort the memories stored in it. That's why we remember things that didn't happen and we forget things that happened at one point.

Our ability to remember, remember and restore information is simply unbelievable. That is why sensations, namely smell, emotions, sounds are the most effective triggers for the renewal of memories.

Sometimes it is very difficult to remember in the smallest detail what happened some time ago. The worst moment is that our brain, over time, distorts the memories stored in it.

Our memories may be trustworthy or erroneous. But that's exactly how the human brain works. It is the memory that can be between us and the need to forget the past and the sufferings we went through.

Here are 3 ways in which our memory does not allow us to forget the past:

Writing stories to fill the gaps in our lives.

We are prevented from forgetting an unpleasant situation or event due to an inability to look at the picture as a whole. We are guided only by our point of view, which, unfortunately, is very limited. That's why our brains are starting to write stories that fill in the information gaps.

But how long will these stories exist? The more we think about them, the more we begin to believe in these stories. Our memories are very closely related to the history of our past and real events. One day, we may not even remember ourselves writing this story to fill in the gaps.

This greatly complicates forgiveness. Whatever story we write, we are convinced that it is true, we link it to our memories of a particular event, and it is already impossible to separate truth from fiction. We need to stop writing such scripts.

We have to accept that we don't have all the pieces in the story and accept everything as it is, heal our souls, and move on. Maybe one day these gaps will be filled by someone else, but let's not wait for this to happen. Let's be ourselves and everything will work out.

Intentional omission of details that we do not like.

One of the best features of our memory is how it tries to protect us. But as for our peace of mind, that could be a problem. Our brain is a tool for survival and has been programmed from the beginning to protect us from any injury.

It helps us to hide or to forget some significant moments from the past. We may forget some of the things we said or did, but we remember very well what the person next to us did or said. These memories are very unpleasant for us and we prefer to forget them, and this prevents us from being at peace.

With such memories, we forget the good that those around us have done to us just because we are no longer together. To be calm and heal, we must remember everything.

Separating memories and remembering only good and beautiful memories will never bring us peace. Our memory is a rather complex system. Let's work with our memories and we will be able to find peace.

Shock reaction.

Some things take us by surprise. Even if we feel that something is about to happen, we are still in shock. These unpleasant events and the fact that we did not expect them, cause the brain to repeat what happened, trying to find new signs or new clues that we did not find the first time.

We analyze every detail, trying to observe new clues, regardless of the situation. The main thing is that in doing so, we understand what happened. No matter what happens unexpectedly in our lives, we are unprepared for the blow we receive and try to cling to memories in an attempt to find meaning.

Playing events over and over again doesn't help anyone. Whatever we find, this will not change our starting position. The more we analyze the details, the more our memory distorts the real state of affairs. The little details we missed at first can turn into serious problems.

A simple trifle can become the subject of attention and obsession. And reliving the events to cope with the shock significantly aggravates the situation and connects us to it, and getting rid of these moments will be very difficult.

Instead of being in shock using a vicious circle of memories, try to respond to the shock, learn to deal with the pain, and heal your wounds.

There is nothing wrong with remembering what happened, but not more than once or twice, and then we stop, accept what is happening to us, work on our inner healing, and move on.