by Irina Diaconescu

Created on: November 22, 2011   Last Updated: November 23, 2011

There are times in life when one finds himself in such an awful place that if there was a magic pill that could take away all the pain, hurt, bad memories and bitter tastes, everyone would be standing in line to take it. In retrospect, I think everyone would regret it. No pill is going to make things better. I mean, humanity has been trying to numb itself for how long, with antidepressants, mood lifters, therapy, to try and escape the harsh, painful reality. But you see, there is no cure for life.

Taking a pill that would take all the bad away would only get people stuck in a perpetually vicious cycle of making the same mistakes over and over again. Just like a child that never touches a hot stove again once they burn their hand, humans need to condition themselves to the realities life likes to throw their way. If everyone took a pill and forgot all the negatives in their lives, all the mistakes they've made, all the pain they’ve had to suffer through, well then how would they learn to differentiate a good decision from a bad one in the future? Just like reflecting on the past to see how one finds themselves in their current spot in the present,  the bad should be stored away and not throw away the key but rather unlock the door once in a while and sift through the memories that once brought them so much pain so that they don’t repeat the same mistakes.  

While traumatic memories aren’t always self-induced but rather caused by other people or events out of our control, people need to hold on to all of it so that they can learn to be stronger, so that they can learn from past experiences, so that they know whom and what to avoid in the future, or which path of the proverbial fork in the road to follow. By holding on to traumatic memories, people develop red flags and their fight or flight syndrome sharpens, so that they know which one to use if a situation presents itself again. This in turn will help them avoid finding themselves in a situation that may lead to yet another traumatic memory in the future. That’s why people can’t let themselves forget.

Humans are creatures of habit and they’ll be much better off learning how to use the knowledge they’ve acquired over time, whether good or bad, so that they can have the strength and wisdom to live life and not become habitual mistake makers. Sticking their head in the sand and taking a pill that will magically take away all the bad memories will leave everyone dumbfounded and blind in front of an oncoming train, wondering how the hell they ended up on the tracks. Well, they didn’t know any better because they once took a very magical pill and lost the lesson.

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