Whatever you see, hear, taste, smell or touch is stored in our mind. The more frequently you visit the particular memory, easily accessible it becomes.

Practically, without any effort, you are storing data every moment.

The human brain consists of about one billion neurons. Each neuron forms about 1,000 connections to other neurons, amounting to more than a trillion connections. If each neuron could only help store a single memory, running out of space would be a problem. You might have only a few gigabytes of storage space, similar to the space in an iPod or a USB flash drive. Yet neurons combine so that each one helps with many memories at a time, exponentially increasing the brain’s memory storage capacity to something closer to around 2.5 petabytes (or a million gigabytes). For comparison, if your brain worked like a digital video recorder in a television, 2.5 petabytes would be enough to hold three million hours of TV shows. You would have to leave the TV running continuously for more than 300 years to use up all that storage.

[source: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-estimate-boosts-the-human-brain-s-memory-capacity-10-fold/]

You have memory bank much beyond your capacity to consume.

Now that you have stored unwanted and wanted data, accessing the memory is another task. The more you visit a particular memory, more it becomes stronger. You may read Tony Buzan to learn more on memory management.

So we all have have tons of memories: Good – Bad – Ugly.

Going further somehow I feel our DNA is more prone to pick up negative rather than positive until you practice hard like monks or saints.

Finally, we have to accept and learn to live with the negativity around and associated with us.

Are we alright with this? NO! A big No.

We are fighting hard to live happily. We want to behave differently. We want to delete all those negative memories which keep strolling around all the time.

But we can’t delete them. Then?

You must have heard the small story on how to make a given line smaller without touching it. Simple answer was to draw a bigger line adjacent to the given line.

Let’s apply same rule here as well. Augment your positive memories and don’t focus on negative memories. They will keep coming. Let them.

Simple steps:

  • Keep a smiling group photo of your family or friends handy. May be in your wallet. You will see the smiling faces every time you will use your wallet. You may also replace your mobile or laptop wallpaper with this photograph.
  • Probably you may create a small pocket diary and start writing only positive things happened to you each day.
  • Listening to positive talks for even 5-10mins, available free on internet, will be quite helpful.
  • Fix 30mins (your time… your call… always more is better) exclusively for family without any digital intervention. No fault finding, no complaints. Only gossips topped with loud laughters. It will be difficult if you are not habitual. But take it as your medical treatment.
  • Sign up for a hobby class. Even once a week will do wonders. You will have new connections without any past memories attached to them.

The best list is there with you already. You know what works best for you. The only thing you must do is to take an oath of spending time on positive thoughts and start ignoring the negative ones.

People says it takes 21 days to change the pattern or habits. Not much…isn’t it?

With the beginning of new year, what can be better than treating your self rather than working on things you can live without.

Memories are like a dungeon in a game. You play only to come out. You focus on exits. You skip the tough routes. Your sole target is to win.

Make a new beginning. Establish positive anchors. Stay positive.

Wish you a very positive and cheerful year ahead…

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