Photos and Descriptions
Not many print photos today. We do save paper, but it is hard to write on the back of a digital picture as to the who and when of the photo.
My mom is gone but she did make notes on a few photos which helped to make connections as to who was who. Even when she was alive, she had trouble identifying who was in many of her photos. She had made some memories but was losing a lot of them towards the end of her life.
My point is not to make you sad but to remind you that we do need to make memories and find a way to keep them. Think how nice it would be if your grandchildren could see many of the places you have been. They might want to put seeing those places on their bucket list!
Been There – Done That
Sharing memories of where you have been and what you have done will be important to pass down in family lore.
Sharing how you grew in your life experiences will be helpful to your children and their children when they face similar challenges. We do tend to push bad memories into a locked vault in our minds. But using those difficult experiences as learning experiences can help you give others fair warning about how some decisions can lead them in the wrong direction.
It is one thing to say, “Don’t go there!” However, by letting experience speak, more will listen to “Don’t go there because of what I learned doing that!”
Later, your family and friends will appreciate that you have been there and done that!
Telling Memories
I will advise you to find a way to share memories. Even more importantly is to learn your lessons daily. What went well and why. What went badly and why. If you do not consider the why you will never make positive changes.
Making the same mistakes over and over is proof that you are not trying to think. And you will continue to let habits (good or bad) do your thinking for you. If you want your life to go well, you must take action to verify you are heading in a good direction. If you give up all your decision-making to others you give up your ability to be an adult.
And children will listen to adults who can explain the why behind good and bad decisions. Just saying “I told you so” and your own actions say otherwise does not set well with children looking for help.
It is tough being an adult. Not everything is fun. Responsibility requires some work. And consistency requires discipline.
Even when we retire and try to be a kid again, our physical restrictions become our reality. But we do find a way to have fun!
Have fun as an adult but do tell some of your hard memories to your children to help them recognize that difficulties will come and that they will pass!
Making Memories
I realize that making memories is not easy. You must be willing to do and go to build a memory.
If you want to make a lot of money, you need to work on adding skills and education. That takes effort. You must do something.
Not all jobs will pay well. You must decide when your pay is enough to allow you to make some memories with your family.
Finding time for your family will mean managing your time. That also means making time to think about what you need to do and places to go after considering what has gone well or badly and why.
Your family will make better memories with you if you are feeling better about yourself and your decision-making.
Your relationships will be better if you consciously make self-improvement a constant habit. That will include reading and listening for new ideas and factors for making better decisions.
When you make learning important, you become more sympathetic to the needs of others, areas in which you can improve, and ways in which you can share lessons learned.
Making memories takes effort but has many rewards, mostly internally. However, folks who do well financially have learned about the skills in demand and what it takes to learn them. They have learned to be good stewards and to make wise investments.
I am blogging to help you build a better mindset for money. My hope is that you will learn to do well financially and learn to share how you did so with your children.
Leaving Memories
I suppose that I am making this effort to blog because I have begun to see my own limitations, especially as to how much time I may have left to live. When you are young, life places enough pressure on you to work and survive that you will often lose sight of your need to improve, to make changes to be able to do what you really want to do, to make and achieve some worthwhile goals, and to make some great memories!
I have lost friends and family to cancer. And others I know are living with dementia or Alzheimer’s. They have lost their available time to make memories and share those with others.
I am trying to improve how I eat, exercise, and do other things to stay healthy and feel blessed when I can remember what I did yesterday!
What are you doing to stay healthy and mentally alert?
If you are young, you may be scoffing at what I say. However, if you need some incentive to consider what I am saying, you should volunteer to help at a memory care unit for a day to get a feel for where you might end up. If you are blessed with the opportunity to live a long life, I hope you can remember all your adventures!
Care and Share
I hope you care about family and friends. Working on yourself and what needs to improve does not mean getting wrapped up in yourself as the example to follow and pointing out the faults in others!
If you truly care about your family and friends, you will share your time, your resources, and your experiences—your memories that are worth sharing.
The time you have is precious. The memories you make with family and friends is precious. And precious means it has value.
The more time you share will bring more value to friends and family. You will get more from giving and sharing than they will. That is a fact. It is Scriptural, “It is more blessed to give than receive.” (Acts 20:35)
Every day is a challenge. That is why I start each day with a prayer. No matter what you believe, I want you to build a better mindset for money. You need money to survive, for sure. However, if you can learn to manage your money well, you can find a way to share your blessings and your memories with family and friends!
Make them while you can, and I hope you will always have good memories!