Are Memories Important?

I remember a story where a man, in a futuristic world, in order to survive, little by little sold his most cherished memories to people who wanted to experience them, with the relevant feelings they produced. In this way he lost track of his birthdays, of his first love, of his graduation etc... As the process was irreversible, he ended up buying someone else's memories in order to have a life once again, although not his own anymore. The result of this improbable story is that a human being cannot accept - willingly - a life without remembering his/her past. Does this mean that your past is an indispensable part of yourself? Absolutely. Although sometimes you might have wished to forget about an unpleasant or sorrowful even that happened some time ago, you wouldn't be the same person if you could and did. Besides, memories don't change, while everything else does. All memories are necessary to make your life complete, they are the mental representations of what you did, of the way you lived, of all that brought you to be who you are right now. Therefore memories are the awareness of your past experiences which, if you are willing to, can be your best companions, your best teachers. Without being obsessed with them, they can suggest to you how to avoid repeating a mistake or remind you of a good deed.  In a nutshell, they can sometime be of help when you need advice about a future behavior.