I almost titled this episode “I Want My Bubble Back” and no, I don’t mean the pandemic lockdown days. I mean the good old days.

Or maybe I should say “my good old days” because we all have a version of those, when life seemed simpler, no matter our age. For me it was playing outside all day, coming home after dark, biking everywhere and worrying about little more than which what jeans were currently cool.

Ah, nostalgia.

But there’s the thing: those memories we cherish? They’re not necessarily accurate. Our brains love to soften the hard stuff, filter out the struggles, and create a highlight reel that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Our brains also want to tell us that our current challenges and struggles are harder than ever, but the truth is that challenges and struggles have always been part of our lives. Little ones—like sharing a curly cord, landline with your entire family, to big ones, like learning to navigate life after 9/11.

The thing I want us all to remember is that if we got through those, we have what it takes to do it again. We didn’t get through those times because we believed they were somehow easier. We got through them because we’re stronger than we think.

Tune in as I riff on the tricks our brains play on us, how those rose-colored glasses we view the past through are hurting us and how we can use our “good old days” memories instead to supercharge our confidence today.