Fleeting Memories of Pain

The Japanese proverb "Once through the throat, the heat of boiling liquid is gone" is paraphrased as "When pain is gone, it's soon forgotten." This implies that no matter how much hardship we experience, once it passes, we tend to forget about it easily. Therefore, even though we often reminisce about past tough experiences, the memory of these experiences tends to fade, making it difficult to recall the details unless it's an exceptionally traumatic event. This phenomenon may be influenced by the fact that the human brain has a mechanism that helps us forget past pain. In other words, if we offer advice to individuals going through similar painful experiences, it might be effective to show them a memo or diary that was contemporaneously written about a past event, describing it in detail from beginning to end. By the way, this Japanese proverb also carries another meaning as a warning about how people tend to forget the kindness and benefactors who helped them during difficult times once things get easier.

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