Second Cup: Life is just a memory

Plan to do more memorable things

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
tip is that life is mostly made up of memories.
We can anticipate the future, but that is largely unknown.

(00:26):
The present is fleeting memories we truly have. This ratio
means that it might be worth organizing life to pay
a bit more attention to memories than we might naturally
be inclined to do so. When you make your plans
for the day, or for a weekend, or even for

(00:48):
your year, my guess is that there are many criteria.
You figure out what needs to get done, You ask
what other people are doing. You consider what feels relaxing
or what is easiest at the moment. For most of us,
what makes the most or the best memories is not
going to be the primary consideration, And I'm not saying

(01:11):
that it should be, but I think it should be
a bigger consideration than it often is. That is because
life is made up of memories. The future is uncertain.
You can barely think about the present before it is gone.
Memories based on a past that actually happened are the

(01:33):
most known part of our life. Stories when we plan
our lives to optimize memories. We create a story, we
will be able to hold on to one that can
make our lives feel more like they happened than that
they were completely forgettable. Time feels stretched out. We don't

(01:56):
say where did the time go when we remember where
the time went. What this means in practice is nudging
ourselves to do things that create more memories. These may
not always be the easiest or most comfortable things to
do in the moment, but if we realize that life

(02:16):
is mostly memory, we might be more motivated. For instance,
traveling can be fun, but to be honest, big chunks
of it can be a bother. Plane flights are uncomfortable,
so as sleeping in new beds. Adjusting to uncertainty can

(02:37):
be challenging, as as being apart from familiar routines and
foods and other things. But when you think of your
memories of any given year, I would guess that any
major trips you took are one of the key ways
that you define the year. Oh, yes, that's the summer
when we went to France. My mother in law h I,

(03:00):
recently shared some of her memories with the family in
an album she created for all of us. Many of
her recollections had to do with her travels. Certainly, you
will have more memories of, say, a week spent on
a safari than a week spent in your apartment. Now,
you can't spend all your weeks on safari, but if

(03:22):
you have the opportunity to take a trip from time
to time, it is probably going to be a better
memory than not traveling, even if not traveling is more comfortable.
I have tracked my time for over seven years now,
and I have recently begun studying my time logs from
six years ago, when the date cycle was the same

(03:43):
as it was for this past year, December twenty six
being a Monday. In both twenty twenty two and twenty sixteen.
The normal days of work and kid care and costco
runs are hard to place. But when I see something
unusual on my log, something a little adventurous, I can

(04:04):
conjure up those memories pretty quickly. Memories make past times
feel more rich and full. Now. Of course, there is
nothing wrong with routines and the normal rhythm of work
and kid care and costco runs, but even any given

(04:25):
week can be made a little different by doing something
a little different In the deepest days of COVID lockdowns.
One family I know of made a giant game of
shoots and ladders with chalk on their driveway. Life is
a memory, and in normal life that became one. In

(04:47):
any case, as you plan the next week or the
next few weeks, try taking into account what memories you
would like to have of this time. Memories are not
just a passive result of life happening. They are something
we can consciously choose to cultivate. Yes, we can have

(05:07):
memories from things that are just spontaneously occurring, but they
are also the result of our planning them in and
choosing to do interesting, adventurous, novel intense things. Maybe not
every day, but not never either. When we take memory

(05:29):
into account with our plans, we simply do these things
more often. In the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening,
and here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

(05:53):
I'd love to hear from you. You can send me
your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with
me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod
that's b E the number four then breakfast Pod. You
can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcasts
at iHeartMedia dot com that before Breakfast is spelled out

(06:16):
with all the letters, thanks so much, should I look
forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production
of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app,
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