Crow’s Feet Writing Prompt #62
The Magic of the Present Moment Beats Memories Every Time
Is dwelling in the past harming or helping you?
Science says the human brain exhibits a negative bias. This bias means the bad stuff dominates while good experiences fade into the background.
Those researchers nailed it when it came to my brain.
Can I blame it on my fault-finding Virgo astrological sign? Perhaps it’s due to a tendency to melancholy, which is associated with my number four on the Enneagram of Personality. Or maybe I have more bad memories than the average person.
Fortunately, I’ve found my solution. I don’t dwell on memories, good or bad.
How mindfulness helps me with bad memories
A man lurked outside my window.
I woke with a startle from a bad dream rooted in bad memories. My frozen arms hurt like hell. The iPhone read 2 am.
How would I get through the rest of the night? I felt hesitant to fall back asleep and relive the same frightening dream.
I needed to relax my nervous system, which was stuck in freeze mode, hiding the flight or fight urge lurking beneath it.
