Thoughts on: memories

By Chuck Morris

We all have them. We all use them to varying degree. How you use them may be determined by your attitude, whether it be a negative or a positive one. What about you? Our jobs depend quite heavily on memory. Most of us carry some sort of recording device, be it a note pad or recorder; we need something to help us deal with the bombardment of information with which we are assaulted each day. How we fi le this information will have an infl uence on an outcome later that day/week/month, or years into the future. It is not only what we record on paper or digital, but also how we tuck other things into our memory as we are recording the immediate happenings. What about little nuances, perhaps the expression of someone across the table from you? That slight grimace, only discerned perhaps by you, will cause a completely different recollection than others around the table. That memory may be the piece that will allow you to deal with something and achieve a better outcome than someone else may have determined. The infl uences in our lives, at home or at work, help form memories that do affect how you do things, how you respond in situations, how you feel. Remember, positive breeds positive so whatever you do throughout your life, try to do all of it within a positive attitude. Your memories in later years will allow you to refl ect on past situations in a better light, and will even guide you to other successful outcomes. Did you mentor under anyone in a formal or even non-formal way? Did you mimic others throughout your advancing career because you thought that person did things in a way that worked well? Those are memories you can recall and use for the rest of your life! We have all witnessed people in similar positions as ours doing things that almost always had great outcomes and allowed a certain notoriety amongst his peers and those to whom he reported. Do you recall casual acquaintances you have met and how, just through that kind of relationship, it changed an outlook of yours? We all have them. I recall a principal of a school in Kitimat that always had a wonderful demeanour and was thoughtful and kind; this person treated staff as we all want to be treated and that refl ected back on to the principal. I recall many discussions that may or may not have been work-related at the time, but were positive and helped me rethink a few things. Memories are therapeutic! When you are feeling lonely, missing someone terribly, thinking about the loss of a loved one or recalling the moment you met your spouse; these all place you in a space that will help you heal, that will move you forward. Use your memories to your advantage! Make them ‘work’ for you! Your memories are your life’s book, the pages that refl ect where you have been, how you moved in certain directions, and how you have developed your life.

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