Stop Brooding Over Past & Worrying For Future

The process of continuously thinking about the same thoughts, which tend to be sad or dark, is called brooding/rumination.

A habit of brooding can be dangerous to your mental health, as it can prolong or intensify depression as well as impair your ability to think and process emotions. It may also cause you to feel isolated and can, in reality, push people away.

Some people waste their lives on brooding over past and worrying for future. It is possible that you couldn't do what you should have done in the past. But to spoil the present because of that is not wise. Similarly spoiling our present by worrying for future, which is unpredictable is also not wise.

Remember that present is the most important moment of your life. What matters most to you and to the world right now is what you are at present and not what you were or what you will be. So, take proper hold of your present. By taking control of the present, we can not only lay a good foundation for our future but can even reduce the effect of the past considerably.

Past should be used only for learning some lessons from it so that these mistakes are not repeated. Besides this there is no importance of the past. There is no dearth of opportunities in our life to progress. If you have lost some opportunities in the past, you can still catch the train now. Opportunities of all sorts are always there before us but, we should have the necessary will or desire to grab them.

Tips for addressing brooding

1. Distract yourself - When you realize you are starting to ruminate, finding a distraction that can break your thought cycle can really help. Look around you, quickly choose something else to do, and don’t give it a second thought. Talking about your thoughts with a friend who can offer an outside perspective may help break the cycle.
2. Take corrective action - Instead of repeating the same negative thought over and over again, take that thought and make a plan to take corrective action to address it.
3. Setting up achievable goals - Setting more realistic goals that you are capable of achieving can reduce the risks of overthinking your own actions.

Try to bring in gradual lifestyle changes

• Be proactive in trying to solve your problems. First identify problems in your life and then start taking actions to solve your problems, one step at a time.
• Negative ruminating thoughts can creep in when we question our self-worth. Praise yourself for your successes and forgive yourself for your mistakes. Constantly work on building your self-esteem by taking care of yourself and doing things you enjoy.
• When you are having a bad day, it is so important to have your friends and family whom you can call on for help. These special people may distract you from your ruminating thoughts and are also likely to boost your self-esteem.
• When you find yourself with a repeating loop of thoughts in your mind, seek out a quiet space. Sit down, breathe deeply, and focus on nothing but meditate. Or go out for a walk or just pedal it out. These small physical activities will clear your mind to arrive at an emotionally calm state.
• Focus on positive thoughts that will make you feel safe, accepted, loved, and honored. When you are at homeostasis, reflect on how fortunate and blessed you actually are.