Addictive Thinking: Preoccupied With Past Thoughts
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You are driving in your car and for some reason in your mind you are going over something that happened in the past. You are thinking about what you could have said, should have done, would now do differently. Why are we preoccupied with past thoughts?
I talk a lot now about how I want to live in the day. “One day at a time”, “Twenty-four hours a day“. But it dawned on me that I spend an awful lot of time going over past experiences in my mind.
It would be one thing if I was thinking of fond memories or something like that but it is usually more along the lines of an altercation with someone or some sort of confrontation. I waste time thinking about all the should of, could of, would of’s. It’s so ridiculous. What I really need to concentrate on is getting on with life.
I have been trying to become more conscious of this so that I can change my thinking patterns. Now when I start to dwell on a past experience I shift my thinking to something else. I try to think about positive thoughts.
It really is work to police my thoughts like this but I am hoping that the more often I do it the easier it will become. I am finding more and more that I have peace of mind throughout the day.
Instead of thinking what I really should have said to Sally last week when she pissed me off, I now think what it would be like to be filled with peace. I just starting thinking about how my mind could feel peaceful right this moment and before I know it, that is exactly what I feel.
You know that old saying in addiction recover “act as if“. I’m acting as if I have peace of mind and that is exactly what follows.
Peace of mind to me equals happiness. Happiness comes from inside of yourself, not from anything external. If I can have peace of mind no matter what is going on in my life, I am truly happy.
Posts
May 10th, 2007 at 6:18 am
[...] Addictive Thinking: Preoccupied With Past Thoughts [...]
May 11th, 2007 at 4:44 pm
I loved your story.I have been working hard of staying clean for a year now and u slip sometimme but i come right back up better and smarter.U have had a rough time and the eLord has got to be proud of u. GOOD LUCK
September 10th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
[...] I start to feel down about myself I allow myself to be preoccupied with the past and all of the shitty things I’ve done. I play them over and over in my head. It’s [...]
October 16th, 2007 at 8:41 am
[...] was another time that an addict doesn’t stay in the here in now, they are preoccupied with the past or worry about the future. Instead of just experiencing an airplane flight for what it is, I used [...]
November 29th, 2007 at 10:36 am
[...] recovery of just how sick I was in active addiction slips my mind. There is a fine line between dwelling in the past and reflecting on your past and sometimes it’s hard to tell the [...]