> > > But I think that only goes for physical pain. Emotional, spiritual pain I can remember the exact feeling of it in such excruciating detail that its like bringing back the situation all over again.
> >
> > Yes, unfortunately I have to agree with you on that one.
>
> The interesting counter to that is when you're in pain, try to imagine what it's like to not be in it. Right now I've had an ingrown toenail for months (I really should see a doctor -- my usual strategy of letting it go away isn't working), and I've been trying desperately to remember what it's like to not have one. Well, I can do that right now because it's not hurting. But the instant I hit it on something, the thought becomes impossible. Interestingly enough, all the other toes feel fine -- but I still can't transfer that feeling to my mind to imagine what it would feel like to not be feeling pain. Am I making any sense?
>
> Stephen

Perfect sense. It's impossible for us to remember feelings; we can remember whether we liked that feeling or not, but not the actual feeling itself. Jerry Seinfeld did a routine about how when we get hungry, we can never imagine not being hungry. After we eat all the food and get the bill, we ask ourselves "how could I have eaten all that food?"

mi "overanalysis is the" key