Listening to the Niggle

In my post about cellphones, I mentioned one of my memory problems; remembering things at the right time. Yes, an external factor like cellphone or even just getting a reminder from a family member or friend can make things easier, but neither is fool-proof. Instead, I can kick down the door and find a more natural approach to my memory deficits.

I've come to realise that my TBI didn't so much take away my memory, it simply changed the way my memory works. Now, rather than my memory chiming in with a big wake-up call, "Oh, I must do this now!", it gives me what I call a niggle. A niggle is a small, seemingly trivial worry that I'm forgetting something. When I get one, the best response is to to stop and focus on what might be causing it. Unfortunately, that bit of the memory doesn't come instantly and sometimes requires real thought, but, if I stop to think, it's much more likely to come back than if I don't.

Like I said, the niggle's something new and it will take me time to get used to this new way my memory works. Right now, I'm too tempted to simply ignore the niggle as nothing and continue on my way, only to remember what it was trying to tell me much later on. I hope I can focus on the new way my brain works and quickly learn to listen to the niggle.

I have found one way to make it more difficult to ignore the niggle. As I'm focusing on what it is I need to remember, I think about where I'll be when that needs to happen. What will I be doing? What will I be seeing?

I do not mean to suggest that every TBI recoverer will have the niggle. Instead, I mean to say that a TBI will likely cause a brain to function in a new way. Much can be gained from thinking constructively about that new way, whatever it may be.

Cheers,
Mike