Do you often find yourself thinking about the past years of your life?

Do your childhood years feel distant or close to you?

I often think about my past. Sometimes I feel nostalgic for the beautiful and positive experiences I’ve had, and other times I feel sadness for the dark events I’ve gone through (and I’ve had many dark events). This depends on my current emotional state.

For example, if I’m happy and going through a pleasant time, and things are going well for me, then beautiful memories from my childhood or youth come to mind. In this way, the happy period I’m living in now seems to multiply, as if it becomes even happier, because the happiness that comes from childhood memories enhances the current happiness. In these cases, I don’t recall sad or dark events, only the beautiful ones. And the past feels close, as if I’m reliving it again. Without a doubt, this entire process happens unconsciously. Perhaps it’s a clever strategy of the mind: the mind tries to hide my sad past experiences when I’m happy, because it wants to amplify my current happiness by telling me that I was happy in the past too.

However, the opposite also happens. When I’m going through a tough time and I’m sad, sad thoughts and events from the past come to mind, which deepen my sadness and sorrow.

It rarely happens that when I’m happy I remember sad things or when I’m sad I remember beautiful things. My memories surface depending on the state I’m in.

I often ask myself:

Why does this happen? Does it happen only to me?

What about you? Do you experience the same thing?