Chosen Memories

Don't you find it interesting that women remember the miracle of chidbirth but not the pain of labor?  Don't you think that if the excruciating pain were what they remembered there would be less babies on the face of the Earth?  I realize this selective memory is a survival mechanism for the female of the species, without it the chances of the human race would be slim.

Here is my question, why can't we all only remember the good parts of everything?  The good parts of Love, the good parts of people, the good parts of relationships, the reason you bought that lemon of a car, or married that jackass of a husband, or the b*tch of a wife.....

I'll tell you why....and it is the same reason,  Survival.  When you have that child, you have to remember the good because the child will always be in your life.  But when it comes to anything else....in today's society, you can ditch all the rest.....and when you DO ditch the rest (and you will) you have to remember why you ditched it.  Without that chosen persistent memory, you would second guess the decision the rest of your life. 

It is this ability to choose a memory that I envy.  I am too pragmatic for my own good,  Oh sure I remember why I bought that lemon of a car and then I question why I got rid of it.  That last repair might have been it!  Sure that potential husband may have been a jackass at the end, but was it my fault, could he have changed? Could I have lived with it?  Love is great while you are in it, but when it ends it is incredibly painful, unless you are the dumper and not the dumpee.....and then the chosen memory is different.

It is odd that I would envy people who can make up their own reality with chosen memories. But it is odder still when people don't question themselves, their belief systems, or the reality of their lives. 

I've been kicked around enough that I am low on faith and full of jaded conviction.  Chosing a memory for a specific event is beyond me.  It is the bottom line that I remember.  All the facts that got me to this point/place/situation.  1+1 = 2 not 3, 4, or 5 or even in some bright future 10.

Ignorance may be bliss, but blind faith is dangerous.