Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is to go for the memory. When you
Speaker 1: are feeling uncertain about doing something, consider not just how
Speaker 1: you are feeling now, but how you will feel to
Speaker 1: have done the thing. Will it make for a good story.
Speaker 1: If so, it might be worth trying. Time always moves
Speaker 1: along at the same rate, but how we experience it
Speaker 1: varies widely. Time expands when we have more memories of it.
Speaker 1: Time seems to disappear when we do the same thing
Speaker 1: over and over again with nothing novel or adventurous. Emotional
Speaker 1: intensity can so deep in time. Sometimes things that were
Speaker 1: over with quite quickly become defining memories for the rest
Speaker 1: of our lives. The memory consumes much more space than
Speaker 1: the event itself. We can't really control that with some
Speaker 1: negative things that become memories, but we do have a
Speaker 1: choice with other memorable things that we can actively put
Speaker 1: into our lives. I had this discussion with one of
Speaker 1: my children a few years ago when he was very
Speaker 1: curious about a particular roller coaster. He got to the
Speaker 1: park and his nerve almost failed him, but we talked
Speaker 1: about this and hashed out that the ride would be
Speaker 1: over in two minutes. Love it, hate it. Either way,
Speaker 1: it would be over in two minutes, and then he
Speaker 1: could tell all his other siblings about going on it,
Speaker 1: and he would have the memory. If he walked away
Speaker 1: from the park without that, well, he could spend far
Speaker 1: longer than two minutes rehashing that decision. He decided to
Speaker 1: go on the ride, and sure enough it was awesome.
Speaker 1: He went on it again and again. But even when
Speaker 1: things aren't so awesome in the moment, they can make
Speaker 1: a good memory. Over a recent weekend, my family elected
Speaker 1: to go hiking in some nearby mountains. Theoretically, early summer
Speaker 1: should be beautiful hiking weather. It was not. The rain
Speaker 1: that was supposed to stop. By the time we started
Speaker 1: hiking did not stop. The temperature hovered around forty eight
Speaker 1: degrees and this was pretty ridiculous, as are the photos
Speaker 1: of us in our wet winter coats in summer. But
Speaker 1: you know what, I love looking at those photos of
Speaker 1: my little hikers. The day stands out more in my
Speaker 1: mind than if we had stayed at home attempting to
Speaker 1: do nothing, which really means meaningless. Something's one way or another,
Speaker 1: these five hours would pass. I now have a memory
Speaker 1: of all of us soaked on that rocky mountaintop. So
Speaker 1: as you are pondering planning your day, you're weak the
Speaker 1: rest of this year, your life. Why not go for
Speaker 1: the memory. Yes, you will feel silly dressing up as
Speaker 1: a clown for that parade, or you might feel nervous
Speaker 1: about that karaoke solo or traveling to Boise on your own,
Speaker 1: but you will definitely remember those things, and the memories
Speaker 1: can entertain you and stretch your experience of time long
Speaker 1: after the experience itself has drifted into the past. The
Speaker 1: present is fleeting. All we have most of the time
Speaker 1: is memories, so best to make some interesting ones in
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd
Speaker 1: love to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter,
Speaker 1: Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's B the
Speaker 1: number four, then breakfast p o D. You can also
Speaker 1: shoot me an email at Before Breakfast Podcast at i
Speaker 1: heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out
Speaker 1: with all the letters thanks so much. I look forward
Speaker 1: to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of
Speaker 1: I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,
Speaker 1: visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever
Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.