Often people will rehash over and over events of the past
Often people will rehash over and over events of the past, or talking about the experience, like it happened yesterday! This is all well and good, if the events are positive and happy. But people will lean towards negative, critical and often detrimental thoughts about others.
People will think about:
👉 The future and what might happen to them.
👉 The present without much thought for past of future.
👉 The past and going over and over an event(s)
There are two differences in thinking about the past.
Introspection – using the events to have self exploration.
Rumination – going over and over the past.
Introspection means thinking about things that happen to you with a kind of curiosity and self-exploration. This way you are attempting to understand yourself or other people. If the events were negative, instead of looking at yourself or other people involved, in a negative way, it is asking yourself “what have I learnt about myself in this process” “How have I changed since this time”
Not only will you know more about yourself, but this gentle reflection time, helps you work through your problems.
Rumination is when we think about the past in terms of the regrets or thoughts of bitterness, this is called ruminating. Where we think about the past and we wonder what we, or others might have done differently, we are churning the events over and over, like a “broken record”. In this way, we learn nothing but drag these memories of regrets infecting our present.
This is often over time associated with anxiety and depression, as we are self-critical, replaying the failures and continually torturing ourselves with thoughts of bitterness.
If you continually criticize yourself, have regrets or blame others in your past, then it is time to learn from these experiences, let go, because you are only hurting yourself. Then move towards a brighter and more happier future.
Reach out if you are struggling ❤