I know how you feel, dulaney0330, because I am also in the same place. I used to have a sharp memory until I was around 15 years old. After that my memory power reduced gradually. I know our ability to learn new things and remember what we learnt is at peak when we are kids. It is part of our growing process. In my case, at first the lack of ability to remember things was affecting only my learning. That time I spent more hours to read books to compensate my memory issues.
Later in my life it slowly started affecting my normal life. Sometimes I forget even common words or names. For instance if I want to tell someone that I shopped at Walmart today, I will start talking, but then I forget the word Walmart. Then I pause for a second then the word will come to my mind.
While trying to find out ways to improve memory, I learned a few things. If I am trying to get many things done simultaneously and I do not take time to relax, forgetfulness goes worse. I also have problem controlling racing thoughts. It does not matter what I am doing, a stream of thoughts runs at the back of my mind. This second layer of background thoughts drains a lot of my energy. My brain does not get any rest even when I am physically resting. Meditation helps me to be in present and it improves my mental clarity. Another thing I found helpful is taking multivitamin. If you are not eating a balanced diet or taking some kind of medicine that incapacitate your body from abosorbing vitamins, a good multivitamin will help you. Brain needs a variety of vitamins to function properly. You need to find enough time to relax. Getting enough sleep also helps. Regular excersice also has a positive imapact on memory. Last but not least take it easy. We are not fitted with memory chips, it is ok not being able to remember everything.
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