[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL3TiHWObdw?rel=0&wmode=transparent&autoplay=0&w=540&h=293]

Deleting Memories From Diaries and Photos Erase Many Good Stories

I was reading through one of my diaries and was surprised to see that I had ripped out quite a few pages from it.  Those deleted pages are more compelling than all of pages I left in tact.  Deleting pages from our past may seem prudent when we are doing it, but now, nearly 30 years later it seems a huge loss. Who knows what was written on those pages? Does it matter?  Is it even necessary to keep diaries and photos of years gone by?

By nature I don’t want to throw things a way, not that I am a pack rat, but it seems silly to get rid of something that you worked to acquire.  However, my desire is to be free from the old clutter that clouds life in so many ways.  But, deleting diary pages and photos from albums is a real mistake.  I know that past relationships may interfere with present ones, or that thoughts from a time gone by are not necessarily those you would agree with today.  The past often brings with it pain, and we don’t want to remember that, so we simply delete it as much as possible from our life.  But, this is a mistake, because it is the Captain’s Log of our voyage.  Ask any captain of a ship and they will tell you that in the course of time at sea you will be faced with storms, or when the ship is ”in irons” and your are surrounded by a crew of brilliant sailors or a hull full of bad characters or novices.

Deleting The Ships Log Is A Reason To Relieve A Captain Of Their Command

The value of a ships log, a diary and photos lies in the lessons learned and the way your life’s voyage has been experienced. Deleting these valuable lessons are a disservice to your life.  It isn’t always pleasant to keep such things around, so put them away, in safe keeping, organized, so that you can forget about them and then pull them out 50 years later. The time does diminish pain, maybe we just get accustomed to it or maybe those experiences have new meaning now because of a new realization.  Ultimately, the joys and happiness in life are paid for by the hard times, so we need to value the price we have paid in our quest for the treasure of happiness.

”…Memories, may be beautiful and yet
What’s too painful to remember
We simply choose to forget
So it’s the laughter
We will remember
Whenever we remember…
The way we were…”

(Song: The Way We Were, from a Movie by the same name. Alan Bergman and Marilyn Bergman lyrics, Marvin Hamlisch, composer. Sung by Barbara Streisand)

Deleting what seems foolish, painful or embarrasing from records of your life my seem prudent in the moment, but they tell the story, your story of the  ”Way You Were.”  That is an important story to tell.

So, writing in a blog is something like writing in a Diary, because you do it everyday and have to do a certain amount of work to keep doing it. Why not turn this effort into money in the bank?  To find out how, simply click here and enter your E-mail to start on the path of becoming a money making blogger! Even that link starts with a compelling story. How cool is that?  It is actually very fun!