An idea isn't real until it is put into action. An idea is by definition something that exists in the mind as an image or thought. Memories are images or thoughts that exist in the mind. For the most part memories are just what we focused on at the moment we actually had an experience. Though it is sometimes difficult to accept, thoughts and images in our minds are not real.

What was important to us at the time is where our eyes were looking. We certainly don't remember anything that might have been going on behind our backs! And anything in our peripheral vision didn't have any great impact on what we remember either. So if we remember anything at all it is where our attention was directed, that narrow place where we focused our eyes. And that is only a small part of what is going on in the environment at the time.

Memories are also coloured by our mood at that moment and our emotional response to the experience. Memories are not the real thing. They are what you are able to recall about an experience.

What we think  is the result of a reality we have experienced, modified by our imagination and the effects of the emotions we have felt. To imagine something is to see an image or thought in our minds. Every experience or thought we have affects the chemical systems in our body. With any thought or experience or physical activity our bodies generate chemicals and hormones. These hormone levels affect our emotional and physical reactions.

For example if we start to worry about our jobs, or money, we tend to become stressed and anxious. We are thinking about situations and pressures that we put on ourselves for the most part. Many of the thoughts we have are of the "what if" type. We imagine bad outcomes to hypothetical situations, many of which we will never experience. The stress and anxiety create hormone levels in our bodies that make us physically fell the stress.

Even a person who denies having emotional responses is affected by their body chemistry, and therefore, their emotions. The so-called objective person does not exist except in theory.

Thinking does not define you as a person. You, as the person you are, define your thinking.
How you respond to a situation is your choice. The moment of decision may be very quick but it is still your choice. When you experience something you evoke memories of similar situations. You tend to react in a similar way to how you react in those remembered situations. If the situation made you angry before you are likely to feel the same way again. But, you can make a different choice now if you want to.

Because of the physical component, the hormone levels and the creation of hormones, I believe that one day we will realize that there is a large genetic and hereditary component to our personalities and our reactions to the environment. In the meantime, it is best to admit we don't know everything and to react with compassion to those who are shy or react differently to situations. After all you don't know what you don't know.

Your thoughts are not you. You are more than your thoughts. Thinking is not real until it is put into action. Thinking is a tool when it is focused on doing and creating.