What it means to "remember"

To never forget. Cherish each and every memory, and bring those memories everywhere you go. To never doubt the high possibility that things will change, as all things do. But knowing that these changes bring you closer to the person you are meant to be and to the person you want to become. To stare fear straight in the face and say “hey, I can and will remember, even though it may be hard. I will remember because those memories are worth remembering.”

To trust. Trust that the hope of things getting better can and will exist. To never give up and keep fighting until the very end. Fight to remember the good times instead of the bad, fight to stay strong and be honest, and fight to be true to who you really are.

Remembering isn’t just a verb, it’s a subject, a noun, a way of life in which we honor and hold dear everything that is real to us. Every memory or laugh, every tear and every simple joy that we may have. “To remember” has far more credibility than we give it. Remembering and moving forward are two of the most highest honors and strengths a person can have. The ability to know your past, and still look to the future is a trait that most people want, and is a hard trait to develop.

Staring into space and measuring what the brain is capable of is mind bottling. But as researchers have said, a person can literally “train” their brain to forget. Forget all the pain, forget all the people you’ve hurt, forget the good memories because it’s too hard to deal—all of these examples are not uncommon. Denial is fear. Fear that when you come back to real life, you won’t be able to cope. It’s like a mental hibernation, when the person doesn’t realize they’ll eventually have to wake up. Wake up and face all of the things they’ve forgotten, or just didn’t want to remember.

Fear is only what we make it. Fear only has power if we let it. Fear is not something we should be afraid of—because we are stronger. Stronger than all the hurt, all the people that cut us down, all the rotten luck. We are stronger than fear, so we choose to remember.