Everyone has bad memories. And the sooner you forget about them the better it makes you feel. But sometimes, some memories are so strong that they tend to stay with us forever.
Depending on the situation, remembering such events or instances can be heart-wrenching for some of you. Especially when it’s about losing someone close to your heart, being the victim of communal violence, being a victim of a serious car accident, or anything that can cause trauma and distress in your life.
However, you can’t live with these bad memories forever. So you need to figure out a way to block them from your consciousness. Luckily you can do that by tricking your mind.
So here are 3 very effective ways to do that, in order to forget everything you don’t want to remember.
1. Stay Busy
One of the most effective ways to keep bad memories away from your mind is to keep yourself busy. When your mind is occupied it becomes easy to combat negative thoughts. That’s because you’re more focused on getting your work done rather than keeping your mind free for such flashbacks.
Also, when you’re engaged in something, as you progress in your work, it motivates you to continue doing it until the job is completed. This helps you stay positive and prevents you from stressing out or feeling low because of a bad memory.
However, it’s not necessary to indulge in a project or do something that’s mentally exhausting for you. You can also indulge in things that make you happy.
For example, you can engage your mind with your favorite hobby. Sometimes it can also be refreshing to attend social events, hang out with positive people, take your pet out for a walk, etc. Basically, you need to keep your mind active so that it’s never ideal enough to wander away and think about things that make you sad.
2. Change the Context
You must have noticed that sometimes, context also triggers memories. For example, being in a certain place may remind you of a special day. It can bring back memories of someone you went there with, or about a specific incident that happened on your visits to that place for a holiday. This happens because it’s easier for your brain to retrieve memories about certain incidents when it finds itself in a similar context.
This doesn’t mean that context should always be in a physical state. Even a song or the scent of a perfume is equally capable of bringing back strong memories from your past.
If something like that happens, try changing the context. Instead of continuing to listen to that particular song, you can change it to something that lifts your mood.
But sometimes it may not be easy to change the context of your present situation. In such cases, it can be a better option to change the context of the incident that makes you feel uncomfortable. Try associating details to it that actually did not happen and start thinking about it differently. Doing this will confuse your mind and you’ll finally be able to push that memory out of your mind.
3. Learn to be in the Present
As much as it’s difficult to forget bad memories, it’s equally important to remember that it happened in your past. If you really want to move ahead in life, you have to forget about it. A good way of doing that is to learn to be in the present.
Try to focus on the little things around you and find the positives in them. Think about the privileges in your life and practice gratitude and say thank you, for all that you have. You should also try to accept what you don’t have and stop being sorrowful about it. Doing this will help you develop a positive attitude and teach you to accept your present more gracefully. This will eventually help you forget all bad memories and make you a happy and positive individual.
Having bad memories is not uncommon. But the good thing is that you can trick your mind to block those memories entirely. All you need is a bit of practice and a little time. The above tips can help you make things easier. So go ahead and get started now.