Life begins and ends so fast that we sometimes lose track of which direction we are going. It is easy to forget that our lives began void of perception, therefore void of recollection. As we grow and develop our perception of the real and the fantasy, we store that which is dear and important to us in recesses of our mind. Remembering something specific, such as a birthdate or telephone number, is required only because of the desire for an action or response, and our memory serves us as it should. But all things that are remembered are not so specific as a telephone number. Lifes' joys and crises affect the desire to remember what has happened through the years and those things are actually remembered. We feel a glow from within as we share the holidays with family and friends, and we identify that happiness with something that is real so that we might remember the glow and feel it once again. Moments in our lives that cause us heartache and grief are not remembered in this way. The pain in our hearts disappears and we only remember the event. Sometimes, there is also a feeling of sorrow, but never to the extent that would cause us to react as if it were happening all over again. Everyone will, by nature, remember best that which caused more happiness and forget that which has caused more pain. The funny thing about all this "remembering" is that we don't always know that we are remembering anything. Our place in this realm is controlled by our perception of where we fit into the "big scheme" of things. We develop this picture of ourselves and our surroundings by dealing with each new experience according to like or similar experiences from the past and the fashion in which we handle those experiences and whatever its outcome was, favorable or not. After each life occurrence, we add to our pool things to be remembered and slowly forget those things from long ago. But we never truly forget something because we experienced, we lived and dealt with it, and whatever it was, it changed us and our perception of our world. After a while, it is possible that one can become "overloaded" with such memories. When this happens, we need to purge those feelings from ourselves that are caused by memories that hold us back from continuing to grow and live our lives. We cannot always tell ourselves "hey, forget it." Sometimes these feelings are so deep rooted that it takes some unrelated incident to initiate this purge of unwanted feelings and free us to continue to grow and live. Who we are never really changes, but how we deal with the events in our lives will always change. No one is so shut off from the world as to remain constant from day-to-day. Release yourself of those things that weigh you down and you will enrich your life and those around you to the fullest. Only with an unburdened heart can we show someone else the true feelings that we keep locked inside ourselves.