Just a thought.

One of the most frustrating things about friends on facebook is all those friends who since you last knew them have had a change of name. This is almost always the case when the friend happens to be a female from the distant past who have since you knew them well have become married and in the process, their name has changed.

This makes memories of times and incidents shared that much more difficult to remember. This came to me yesterday when I was talking to a friend from my youth about another friend from the same era. I became aware that the person I was talking to was not the same name as the person I remembered from that time and the person I was mentioning in the conversation had changed her name also. All so very confusing.

Memory is such a strange thing. More and more we now hear talk of Alzheimer's and the terrible way it affects the mind and memory.   How I would not like to be so inflicted.

Now that being said I do remember in my youth having real difficulty with remembering the things that were important. I dreaded when the homework assignments were being given out. I used to sit in the class saying to myself, "please oh please do not give me a poem to learn. Or even worse a large section of the old testament which seemed to be a favourite of many teachers. 

Both of those tasks were nightmare tasks for me.

Now if I jump forward a few years. At the end of every church service as the minister, I went to the door of the church and spoke to those who had attended that morning. I very quickly learned that remembering the names of those I was speaking to was very much appreciated. If I could also remember the names of the rest of the family that was even better.

My first church was a small church seating just over 600 people. The task of remembering the names was daunting but not impossible. My second church seated nearer one thousand so the task got much more difficult. 

It was possible and after a few months, I was 99% of the way there just making the very odd mistake. 

How was it possible? it was possible because I wanted it to be so. Learning a section of the old testament was that much more difficult and the poem slightly easier but still difficult. Why? because I really could not care about learning either of those other than to keep myself out of trouble.

So many of the problems of memory have nothing to do with illness or anything other than what I would call, "selective hearing. " if we chose not to pay attention to what is being told then there is little chance in us remembering later. 

My little secret with names was that having heard a name I immediately found some kind of association that would enable me to prompt my memory. So Jenny ....... was not just jenny ..... she was also jenny with the bun that looked like a penny on her head.  It worked and it still works to this day. I have a head full of useless information and useful facts all buzzing around awaiting the need to be recalled.

Improving one's memory is not all that difficult. 

Most of us simply don't expend the time or effort required. The true art of memory is the art of attention. We can improve our memories by simply putting our minds to it and by following a few simple rules.

1) Remember to remember. Telling yourself that you want to remember this or that fact and concentrating on it will improve your memory immediately. We remember what we WANT to remember. 

2) Sharpen your observation. Pay close attention to what you see and hear. Use images. Shut your eyes and try to SEE it. Notice details. really LOOK at things. Few people actually do. 

3) Practice recall. Forgetting is most rapid soon after learning. It helps, therefore, to make a deliberate effort to repeat and review immediately. Repetition will help fix the fact or image in our minds. 

4) Concentrate. Eliminate distractions. The mind is at its best when it is centred on one thing at a time. Avoid such things as fatigue, noise, and competing visual images during the time you are trying to learn. 

Why am I wasting my time and yours telling you this? Because it was brought to my attention as I have said and it was commented to me that I seemed to have a head full of memories. I do and such a joy they bring me so often. Little shared moments with friends are the smiles of a day. 

Old age is not an excuse or a reason to forget. The brain is a marvellous organ waiting to be fed more useless and useful information let it rest at your peril.

Today's homework assignment. I am smiling because I have already learned that verse from the Tao Te Ching this morning and will repeat it once or twice as I walk just to make it stay there.

Have joyful memory filled day. Thanks to those on pages like memories of past Rosyth and such thanks to friends like Jim and Malcolm who keep those things going a wealth of joy.