Memories Light the Corners of Our Minds

I have always thought that once you look backward more than forwards, it indicated that you had "given up". At least....in the health care field, we often notice that when someone starts looking through an address book for names of old friends to make contact with, it is a sure sign that the patient has given up on life and is ready to move on.
However, I have also heard that "no one owns the past, and it is a grave error not to inhabit memories" (Patrica Hampl)
On occasion, a memory can almost slap you in the face when you least expect it. I find it fascinating that one can also revisit the very emotion that you felt at the time of the memory.
All in all, the brain is a very strange organ.....one which we have only scratched the surface in understanding. We take a scary path when we allow ourselves to go down the road of memories. It may be a pleasant path.....or a not so pleasant path. We never really know when we start out.
Perhaps this rant occurred because I watched The Notebook tonight, which deals basically with Alzheimer's disease and how the memories, or lack of, can influence life.
I keep being reminded of the adage, Do not weep that it ended, but smile that it happened.