Random Memories... and Forgetfulness

What do we remember... and why?

When I was a kid, my mother was always on at me about all the things I'd forget.

I had pretty much zero short term memory when I was a kid. It has not gotten any better, but at least now I understand that my memory issues are directly related to my ADHD.

What was challenging when I was a kid, was the fact that my mother would always insist that I wasn't listening. Many decades later I have learned that in fact I was listening but nothing that came in whatever stick. It was an aspect of memory that made University life particularly difficult for me because test taking was a nightmare.

Ironically, I can remember all sorts of things from a long time ago including at least a dozen phone numbers from before I was age 10.

I understood — and accepted — that I had a problem with short-term memory at a relatively young age and did the only thing that made sense to me: I kept lists.

I suppose nobody will ever know whether I am truly losing my mind as I age, or whether it's just a continuation of my relatively defective memory that I've had all my life!

It is really amazing how well human bodies adapt to their situations. I've never been diagnosed with "something" relating to my memory issues, but I have naturally found ways to handle the situation on my own... without the intervention of psychologists or pharmaceuticals. And I don't think I'm particularly more in touch with myself than other people out there.

Over the years, I have tried various brain training programs and doing exercises that supposedly improve your cognitive abilities, but they have never really helped.

Consequently, I have slowly come to accept that this is simply the way I'm wired, and I need to simply make the most of the way I am rather than try to fight it.

One of the reasons I like writing — and particularly journaling — is the fact that I can put things down in words that aren't going to fly out my ear the next time the wind turns. There's a certain permanence to committing what you were thinking or what you need to remember to the written word.

Oddly enough, simply the knowledge that I'm able to write something down and not have to worry about it has actually improved my short-term memory somewhat. I can only surmise that feeling like I'm under pressure is one of the things that hinders my memory functions.

I have never really determined whether there is a cut off point in terms of how long it takes before I start remembering things again. But I'm pretty sure that we're talking about months or years, rather than days. Whenever I suddenly remember something in great detail from the past, it's usually years later.

The human mind sure is a strange place!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great remainder of your week!

How about YOU? Have you ever felt truly MENTALLY exhausted, even if you had done no physical work? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2026.02.05 00:07 PST
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