If you have ever been to a doctor’s office and been asked to pick one of the many different pill bottles for a prescription, you have probably observed that they are usually organized into three categories: prescription bottles, single-use vials (one-time uses), and multi-use bottles.
How many of us have even gone to the doctor’s office before? I have a bad feeling I’m not the only one.
The difference between a prescription bottle and a regular prescription is that the doctor writes the prescription and the doctor’s prescription is usually the last. The prescription bottle is the one you get when you go to the hospital. It’s the one you take your pills from, and it’s the one you stick in your pocket so that you are not constantly reminded of the bottle you have to get to the doctor.
I have a lot more doctors than I would like to admit but one of the things I have noticed is that when I get my prescription filled and the doctor inserts the pill, he or she writes down “prescription” on the prescription bottle. This is the only thing you are expected to remember. The doctor may write down things like, “prescription for blood pressure” or “meds for blood pressure” or “meds for high blood pressure.
This is an interesting point. Because I, like many of you, have prescriptions, I am constantly reminded that I have to remember to get my prescriptions filled and be careful about not forgetting them. This reminds me that I am in fact a human being with a fixed amount of memory, and that my memory is not always reliable.
We hear a lot of stories about people who seem to forget their own names, or, as one news report says, “frequently forget to eat or drink”. This is because we also feel compelled to remember things we cannot remember. We are constantly reminded that we must remember to get our medications when we forget to take them. Because we are constantly reminded that we must remember to get our medications, it can be hard to be reminded to not forget them.
I often find that forgetting things is a very normal thing. I like to think of it as being on autopilot. Instead of stopping and thinking about why I forgot something, I just go back to the same old thing, and it gets forgotten.
It’s the same with memory. I can be in bed and forget to be in bed. I have to remember to turn the light on. I have to remember to do my homework. I have to remember to be more careful with my money. All of my life, I’ve been able to do things without any reminders.
For some people that is the same with the opposite of forgetting. For example, when you forget that you have a cold, it doesn’t mean you stop caring about your health. Instead of stopping and thinking about why you forgot to take your medicine, you just go back to the same old thing with the same old disease.This is very similar to the idea of the “fragility” of our lives.
In our lifetimes, we have the opportunity to be in a different place in our lives. We can be in the midst of some life changing event, the birth of a baby, getting married, a job we absolutely love, or even the death of a loved one. At that point, we can really forget the fragility of our lives. We can forget that we have our health issues, or that we were hurt by someone we love.