I open my most special notebook among the hundreds
Plagued with memories that degrade over time
With knowledge that only paper may preserve my thoughts

I have my list of Wisdoms in my mind
Knowing the first must be the most impactful to all our lives
And thus I write, forever to be known as Wisdom number One
The cause of all my pain

In our lives we encounter gems
Our most precious of valuables
Our most cherished of moments
Which make life truly worth it
Which pull us through another painful day
Just for the chance to experience it once more

But

Our gems, revisited, never shine quite as bright
We search endlessly to reclaim our joy from these moments
But all that is left, is sadness, for moments lost

But all that is right, is wisdom, for we know that those moments are lost

We know the past brightness of our most cherished gems
But even in memory, every passing day
Makes our gems look a little duller
Losing our happiest times in favor of a painful world
All the while, we would rather trade reality for fantasy at any price

All the never, would we trade our faded gems for happiness

And thus we willingly keep our pain
These faded gems being the only remaining mementos of our joy
Preferring the sadness
Knowing somehow, losing our faded gems would make us worse off
Even if joy results

All gems fade.
You can only see each gem for the first time once.
Each passing moment takes a little more from you, never to be experienced or remembered again.

However
There are some who trade their gems for happiness
Some who reject their happiest memories
Some who stop trying to reclaim those moments
Some who are truly broken

For we know that somehow, our pain has more value.