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You must stop me if you’ve heard this one.
Past, Present and Future walk into a bar. It was a tense situation. Boom boom!
I'm here all week and don't forget to tip your waitress.
But seriously sometimes we can get tense by living in the past. With our nostalgia goggles on things look better way back when and it's nice to enjoy the postcard moments of our lives.
When The Past Isn’t Pain Relief
The past is a great place to visit but you don’t want to live there. Dwelling in the past where pain resides wrecks the future and present, it's like the bad ass gang leader of the tenses. Overthinking and ruminating about what was means we are never fully present. Our past lives can follow us like a shadow.
Divorce, bereavement, loss, disappointments, broken promises, shattered hearts, estrangements, missed opportunities, bad moves , post-event exquisite one liners/put-downs, poor behaviour (yours and others) - have nothing new or enlightening to tell us. Yet poke around in it we do.
You've been there, done that, Instagramed it in your heart, learned that life isn't always fair, or that you weren't the hero of the hour you wished you been. What were you thinking?
Perhaps you’re in danger of becoming that muttering person on the bus people move away from? Chewing it over and over does not make it smaller, just mushy and harder to swallow
Those who ruminate are more likely to self-punish (or blame others) and get anxious and depressed. Paranoia and trust issues are gifts with purchase too.
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