I Wish I Were A Goldfish

I am told that a goldfish cannot remember anything beyond a 3 minute time frame. One of my favorite pastimes is to sit and watch our goldfish swim around lazily and rising up only to gobble at the food before going back to their contented existence.

Their swimming around actually reminds me of children or infants, who are also lost in their own world, gurgling and just enjoying the existence. Every time I watch them, the thought of a 3 minute memory span comes to my mind and I wonder if that is actually a blessing in disguise.

Just imagine if we all had such a short memory span:

We won’t remember past hurts and be sad.
We won’t remember wrongs done to us and plot revenge.
We won’t remember great times and miss them.
We won’t remember to hoard money and build assets and we will feel free to share what we have.
We won’t remember all that we have experienced and become jaded.
And of course we won’t remember all those telephone numbers and would not be on the phone, most of the time!

The child in us would be alive; innocent, curious and enjoying the simple things in life.
Maybe, the human mind and its potential is its own enemy. This thought is validated by great saints and seers who have said that the objective of meditation is to remove thought.

Thought is triggered by memories and external stimuli.

Incidentally, the 3 minute memory span is an urban myth. Recent studies show that goldfish can remember up to a time frame of 3 months.

Even then it is worth contemplating if we should pray for a memory span like that of a goldfish!