Hopelessly I look at the six story parking garage at Bellevue Square shopping mall.
“I have no idea what floor I parked on. I don’t even know if I parked in the six level garage or in the 4 level garage.” Feeling totally lost and confused, I look at the kind looking security officer.
He laughs. “Don’t worry. You’re the second person this week that needed help finding their car.
I sigh. “I guess that makes me feel better.”
The middle aged guard smiles. “Helping you is no problem. If it weren't for folks like you, I might not have a job."
I grin as I climb into the guard’s cart. This guy has no idea how many situations like this a bad memory’s gotten me into. If there were more people like me, he'd have guaranteed overtime every week. I feel like I’m practicing for when I get old enough to have Alzheimer’s.
Although a bad memory can be a sign that a person has brain damage, it can also be a sign of a lot of other things: fatigue, boredom, pot smoking, pain pills, any number of distractions, excessive drinking.
If you have developed any successful strategies for dealing with a bad memory, I, and probably most memory impaired readers, would like to hear what you’ve come up with. I’ve come up with a few myself that I’d be happy to discuss with anyone who asks.
Speaker - Author - Standup Comic
- Al Foxx
- United States
- Founder President,.....................................www.winnersdontquit.org----------Winners Don't Quit Association
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6 comments:
I can totally relate to many things you post Al, & this one is another problem of mine that yes, at times can be embarrassing. It's hard to look at a person & know their name, but not be able to say it. I don't drive, so I haven't experienced your same story, but I can definitely relate. I don't remember all my embarrassing moments of bad memory, but even the little ones embarrass me because I used to have an super, good memory. One thing that I've found that has greatly helped my memory is memorizing. For you it may be memorizing different things, but for me, I memorize Bible verses. I really enjoy it and it helps improve my memory function.
Yeah, having a poor memory can have its advantages. I have friends who spend hundreds of dollars on cds. An advantage to having a poor memory is that I can listen to the same song over and over without getting bored.
As far as improving my memory, I have used that electronic game called Simon says. It lights up different colored panels and then the person playing trys to repeat the same pattern.
I've also memorized things like scripture to improve my memory. Although the main memorizing I've done is jokes for my comedy routine.
There are also different things to do to compensate for a poor memory. Even people without brain damage use some of these.
Yeah, memory work of any kind can help, but do a little test for me, OK? Memorize anything for awhile & then memorize Bible texts for awhile. Then compare the 2. What I've found is that by memorizing Bible texts, you will have improvement not only in your memory, but your attitude & how you deal with people. You will be more patient, understanding & accepting, thus aiding your total recovery. Your attitude can affect so much of your recovery!!! So much! Memorizing scripture can give your memory & attitude the boost it needs, thus benefitting your total recovery. TRY IT!! It's awesome!
I know reading the Bible improves my attitude. I'll start memorizing verses and see if that has even more of an impact on my attitude.
Great! Let me know how it works, Al!
I'm Al's mom. After Al's accident and hospital stay, I joined a "Menorize the Word" by the navigators. It was a 6 month course with 75 Bible verses with tests. I didn't think it was possible to do that during Al's recovery time. It proved the opposite. It gave the strength and encouragement I needed to help him. After the class I kept memorizing. I learned also I needed to meditate on the meaning of the scripture to gain the full blessing.
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