Something you wish you'd handled differently. And before you know it, one memory leads to another, and you're mentally revisiting an afternoon you probably haven't thought about in ages. Happens to me. And rarely are they happy memories.
Brains are curious organs
They can imagine a telescope that will peer beyond our universe, or dream up technology that would have seemed like science fiction not that long ago. Yet those same brains can make us miss the changeup right down the middle.
I've noticed how quickly a random memory can turn into a full-blown conversation with myself. I start wondering what I should have said or done differently, sometimes even imagining what the other person might have been thinking.
Why dwell on it?
We can't change the past. No amount of replaying a conversation or coming up with the perfect response years later will change what happened.
I suppose part of it is that we want to understand things. I find myself having Costanza moments. That Seinfeld episode when George thought of a comeback hours after the altercation.
Maybe we think that if we replay an experience enough times, we'll finally make sense of it. Or perhaps we're still looking for a different ending to a story that's already been written. I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud here.
Easier said than thought
It's a lot harder when a memory catches us off guard and suddenly we're right back in the middle of it. I still find myself revisiting things that are long over; wondering why I said something or whether I could have handled a situation differently.
Maybe there's a difference between learning from the past and continuing to live in it. The first might actually be useful. The second? I'm not so sure.
Now, if somebody could tell me how to convince my brain of that the next time I'm driving, I'd appreciate it. Because apparently, knowing something and actually putting it into practice are two very different things.
Ooh! Flying cars!
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