AMUSEMENT ARCADE

Not So Amusing

I haven’t been inside an arcade for ages but when I noticed they had a change machine I thought I’d turn my $20 into some smaller bills. The second I slipped it into the machine, though, quarters came flying out—80 of them!  It sounded like I had just hit a Las Vegas jackpot.  They even began splashing onto the floor, so I grabbed the bottom of my T-shirt to catch what I could. 

Now I was holding a shirt heavy with quarters.  To get rid of some I slipped a few into the slot of this Pirate’s Chest and tried my luck.  Three dollars later, after my claw grabbed the Pikachu perfectly several times then perfectly dropped it smack back in the pile, I’d had enough.  It mirrors life though, doesn’t it?  You see the prize you want, and grab hold of it only to watch it slip through your fingers.  You would think we’d be smarter than that. 

Nope.  Our brain is designed to save energy, not use it.  So, it creates habits, called procedural memory to save that energy. The less we have to think about something, the fewer resources our brain needs to use. This way it conserves its fuel for the other, more complicated parts of our day. Originally it evolved to help us find food and water in times of need. 

Once something is stored in our procedural memory, we react to it out of habit, like driving.  It is very difficult to consciously override it with different behaviors.  Being on autopilot like this may cause us to react to what was instead of what is.  Such was the case with my procedural memory of change machines.  Since they used to give out bills, I was shocked by the outpouring of silver. 

This same phenomenon occurs when we hold on to negative, or negatively perceived, memories.  They can loop in our thinking indefinitely making us prisoners in our own heads.  I have clients in their 50’s still wrestling with perceived slights from their childhoods.  Sometimes the events didn’t occur at all, yet they hold fast to them, nonetheless.  How do you free your mind?  Ask yourself: “Does this thought/memory add to my joy?  If the answer is ‘No,’ drop it back in the pile like that claw dumped the Pikachu.  It’s a waste of your time and your quarters.