Think about this, friends.

Now, I am going to throw this idea out to you, to maybe see things a little differently. I dunno if it'll work, but it doesn't hurt to try.

So, have you ever been talking to someone, or watching TV, or hunting an octopus, or something when suddenly a memory pops into your head?

Not a good memory, a bad one, a really bad one. Y'know, the one where you said that ridiculously stupid thing to your friend or snapped at the lady talking through the speaker at the drive through and made her cry because you didn't know that her father died yesterday. Yeah, those kind of memories.

We all have them. They suck. They make us feel horrible on the inside. They make you think: "Oh my God, why did I do that?"

Well, I have theorized a possible reason for these sudden vivid remembrances.

I believe that this habit of remembering bad things is an instinctive trait, something ingrained deep into our subconscious minds.

This instinct, in my opinion, is a good thing. First, let's explore why I say that.

Back in our cave-dwelling past, bad and probably deadly experiences were probably more common then. So, if a caveman made a really bad life-threatening mistake, it would stick in his mind for the rest of his life. Just like our less-deadly mistakes. The caveman would be occasionally reminded of this event when when it pops into his mind spontaneously. Over and over again.

So, why do we have these memories? We have them to constantly remind us to never do that stupid thing again. That is what the memories are for.

And to me, that sounds like a good thing.