Oh to be a Goldfish

I have this routine in the morning. I have coffee and then do a stint on the treadmill. On the way to the treadmill I feed our goldfish. Early this morning I took a look at the fish and some questions came to mind. I wondered whether they sleep at night. And when they sleep do they quit moving? And if they quit moving do they sink or float? You would think I could be thinking more useful thoughts. What did come to mind is that someone once told me that a goldfish’s memory is only three seconds long. Probably information which could be verified on the internet. But then again, would the internet actually give me facts on this very important topic? We all know the internet can be very useful for checking weather, self-diagnosing illness, looking for deals and many others. It is also a source of totally useless information such as the fact that when ants get drunk they always fall over on their right side. Interesting fact. Two questions come to mind. How do they get drunk and who paid for this research? Check it out, ants actually do get drunk. But then again who cares.

Getting back to goldfish. I thought this morning that having a three second memory might be good. Figured it could have saved me a lot of pain in my days. Could save on many of the regrets I have. Would not waste time and energy on hind-sight. But then I thought, there are so many good memories I cherish. I also thought back to many of the bad things I would have liked to forget and realized that many of those life experiences have benefited me in life and to have forgotten them would take away a lot of what makes me who I am today. Quite often when I feel that I am experiencing something traumatic I wonder what life is throwing at me and what good could possibly come out of that experience. I recall a bailiff showing up at my door one Saturday morning. Always thought I was safe on weekends. Apparently not. I recall wondering what good could ever come out of that. But positives have emerged from that awful experience. I am glad that I can remember what happened. I am thankful for lessons I have learned in life. I am happy I can share some of those life experiences with others. And I am even happier when others share some of their life experiences with me. Together we learn. Together we can face what comes our way. Make it a good one.