Memories That Shape Us: Turning Past Experiences into Strength

Have you ever in your life remembered something and told yourself, NO! Things must change in my life? Have you remembered of something in the past, and yeah, it makes you feel good about yourself, or maybe remembered something that had occurred in the past and you feel very low in your self-esteem?

I am confident that you have experienced every aspect of those scenarios, as you possess recollections of past events and experiences. These experiences define who you are now and what you will become based on how we react to them, how you choose to see them, and the actions we take towards them. You are a product of your collective actions, as they say.

It is difficult to live life in a forward progression without having to bounce back in one or two memories. No matter how busy or preoccupied we choose to be or become, they have a way of slipping through our minds and giving us different kinds of emotions. It is at this point that we intentionally choose how these memories will drive us and how they can remain positive in our lives no matter how negative it may have been in our lives, which is possible if we look at it from the point of gratitude.

At what point have you made a decision in your life because of your past experience? Here is an example for me. At different points in my life, I was looked down upon; I was not rated and was used. I could remember how I made myself constantly available, and this placed no value on me as a person. People will invite me to play the guitar but yet pay me peanuts for it. In fact, I would trek long distances because of pennies, and yet they are not enough to feed me through the night. I remember how I had to play the guitar to sleep because it was the only distraction I could afford to keep me from feeling hungry through the night.

I also remember how I placed the happiness of others first before mine; I remember how I lost track of what should be more important in my life; and I remember how I was not rated, not valued, put aside, and placed as an option.

These collective memories are what have made who I am today and have been the reasons why I collectively put the efforts towards building myself—never to be poor again, never to put away my happiness, never to be a people pleaser—and learnt to tell people NO and do not care whether they take it nicely or not, because, truth be told, people only look out for themselves and will only be close to you mostly because of what they tend to gain from you.

These memories are a reminder of what I have passed through, where I am presently in my life, and where I want to be. I am not just driven by the memories but by the recount of the emotions these memories bring.