“Good memories are our second chance at happiness,” Queen Elizabeth II of England once said. And how right she was!

Over the past 12 months, we've experienced changes in all aspects of our lives, and not always for the better. Just talk to any friend, neighbor, or coworker to realize that it certainly hasn't been easy, nor does the world seem to have any short-term solutions to the ills that afflict it.

Despite the above, life goes on, and it is our obligation to make the most of it in such a way that we achieve moments of happiness, as necessary for the soul as vitamins are for the body.

If we analyze Queen Elizabeth II's quote, we will notice that there are two ways to bring back memories: one to contribute to our happiness level, the other to dry it up.

Imagine, dear reader, that an app called "Your Happiness Bank Account" is invented. You can make deposits and withdrawals in it just like any other. The only difference is that this app is so advanced that it can constantly measure your thoughts. On the left side of the screen, you can see a green bar that increases in size as you deposit positive thoughts and memories, no matter how big or small. On the right side, you see a red bar when the memories provoke negative feelings in you. For example, the green bar grows when you remember your honeymoon, admire the tree outside your window, recall a weekend with friends in some magical town, the day you graduated and everyone congratulated you. On the other hand, the red bar grows every time you remember a resentment from the past, a detail that offended you, the feeling of irritability that a particular thing produces in you, see the news that impacts you so much, and so on. Okay?

The challenge arises when your mind engages in one of its favorite tasks: comparing the present with the "good times" of the past. This can easily make you feel less happy and dull your experience. Conversely, when you compare the present with the "bad times" of the past, you feel better or less unhappy.

Research by social psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California, Berkeley, reveals that people who consider themselves generally happy tend to contribute more to the green bar when recalling past experiences—their love affairs, their adventures, their accomplishments—and saying, “Oh, my life is so much better now.” In contrast, people who see themselves as generally unhappy tend to visit and revisit negative experiences from the past, as well as compare and devalue the present with previous positive experiences: “Life used to be more fun, or better, or calmer,” thus unnecessarily contributing to the red bar of present unhappiness.

There are people who are chronically unhappy. I have no doubt that they have had painful or traumatic experiences in the past. However, voluntarily or routinely bringing these experiences to mind is like blinding ourselves to all the light, despite its shadows, that life offers us today. Furthermore, this repetition becomes a way of life.

The conclusion Dr. Lyubomirsky and her team reached is that what we choose to remember about the past and how we do so can determine both our immediate and lasting happiness. I thought it was a great revelation!

So why not listen to Queen Elizabeth II and choose to create beautiful memories today, so that tomorrow they will be our second chance at happiness.