How do You Cope with Them?
People sometimes experience a sudden remembrance of a past mistake they've made, typically an embarrassing social blunder, that comes unbidden (and unwanted). These memories can also be of past failures, punishments, or humiliations. They come at times when our minds are not focused on a specific topic, often while trying to go to sleep at night. Their appearance, especially when they persist, can be tormenting.
What about Positive Memories?
When we experience a positive event—a win, a success, an accomplishment, or praise—its impact may also keep us awake, but we revel in the pleasure of that experience. This kind of event doesn't arrive unexpectedly; it is already in our awareness and may remain there until its intensity subsides.
But Why Do the Negative Memories Pop Up as They Do?
When such an event first occurs, we are unable to fully deal with it in the moment because that would take more time than is immediately available. Our mental apparatus must recall it repeatedly until its novelty wanes, and even if it comes to mind repeatedly during the next few days, that time is insufficient to fully neutralize its impact. During the day, our minds are full of information that overrides painful memories (unless a thought or event is associatively related to that past memory). But at times when external stimuli are sparse, as when lying in bed with the lights out, the internal stimuli of the past traumatic memories can and do surface.
Dealing with Unwanted Thoughts
I have mentioned previously the discomfort experienced by the musician who was bedeviled by "hearing" (in her mind's ear) the same tune repeatedly. I had suggested that when you are in this situation, you can combat it by playing a different tune in your mind. So, too, you can summon up a memory of a pleasant experience to drown out a painful thought.
What About Current Worries that May Keep You Awake?
Why is it that problems may be seen as larger than they really are when we are in bed? They enlarge because there are no immediate answers for them. You may find that if you think of a solution for a problem that is hounding you in bed, it will no longer torment you.
Your Inner Guide
Your Inner Guide can help with this. If you have trouble thinking of a pleasant memory that is powerful enough to overcome an unpleasant thought, your Inner Guide can do this for you. If you don't yet have an Inner Guide, you can acquire one, for free, here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ4G9VIxS94
