If I got to live my life over again, I would still go sailing.

In our later years, we all look back at what we have done with our lives.  When we go into rewind, we tend to remember the good times and forget the bad.

When I rolled my van in New Zealand and broke two legs, fractured five ribs, and punctured one lung, pain and suffering became my new and constant companions.  I got to know them personally in a way that I had never known before.

In spite of all that pain and misery, I can't recall with any degree of intensity what it was like to go through that experience.  I can remember that I was uncomfortable and that it took six months to learn to walk again, but I don't feel the pain any longer.  It's been erased from my mind.

Contrast that with my cruising memories.  When I go into rewind, I can instantly visualize and relive my eleven year voyage around the world.  I can see myself hiking in the jungles of Nuku Hiva.  I can see the Pyramids of Giza and the Temples of Luxor.  I can see myself driving in the sand dunes of Arabia,  I can see the Israeli Navy gunboat circling around Exit Only as we wait for permission to land in Israel.  I can see the crew of Exit Only exploring Nabatean Petra.  I can see myself standing among the Orangutans of Borneo.  I can see the humpback whales jumping in front of our boat off Fraser Island in Australia.  I can see fjord land of New Zealand majestically surrounding me on all sides.  I can see Mount Cook, the Franz Josef Glacier, and the Canterbury plains.  I can see the Australian outback as well as the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  I can see Chinatown in Singapore and Buddhist temples in Thailand.

These and a thousand other positive adventures come welling up in my mind when I go into rewind and observe a not-so-instant-replay of my life.

That's why it's so important to live my dreams.  That's why I would still go sailing.  When I look back over my life, I want tons of positive memories to overwhelm my mind and to remind me that life is truly good.

Excerpt from :

Maximum Strength Positive Thinking : What to Say When You Talk to Your Mind

David J Abbott M.D.