if you really want to be happy then stop living in the past and the future
- Thread starter genius
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DarkSeeker
Well-known member
I'm going to be a bit critical and picky here. You just barely made a thread about negative thoughts that you make another one with in its title, "Stop living in the past and the future." I'm being picky on this because from what I read about self-talk, the subconscious doesn't understand negativity in itself. I mean, when you say to be happy stop living in the past/future, the subconscious understands to be happy live in the past/future. That's why the correct thing to say would to be happy start living in the present.
I know I'm just being a smartass and I'm not bashing for something trivial like this, but I just wanted to point this interesting fact about the subconscious. Because I for one believe that the way we speak to ourselves can have all sorts of unseen influence on the way we feel. The threads you've made of late are about painfully obvious things, but I think they are important because we often easily overlook these when we are stuck in a bad mood, and take irrational negative thoughts coming from our past as true.
As a last note, If you got tricks of your own of the how to live in the present, it would interesting to read them.
I know I'm just being a smartass and I'm not bashing for something trivial like this, but I just wanted to point this interesting fact about the subconscious. Because I for one believe that the way we speak to ourselves can have all sorts of unseen influence on the way we feel. The threads you've made of late are about painfully obvious things, but I think they are important because we often easily overlook these when we are stuck in a bad mood, and take irrational negative thoughts coming from our past as true.
As a last note, If you got tricks of your own of the how to live in the present, it would interesting to read them.
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chopin83
Active member
Living in the present moment... I keep trying to repeat this sentence to myself every day but I find it rather difficult , somehow I keep thinking about the past again and ruminate about past failures ; or I also imagine my future with no expectation and ending up being alone and poor...
As you said it's just an illusion and I believe that our negative beliefs and thoughts are the main reason we keep living in the past , we make mental projections using our distorted way of thinking , which leads us to depression ultimately and keeps it alive.
I think that in order to live in the present it's important to adress the cognitive issue first , which means we must replace our negative thoughts with more positive ones.
There are many ways to live in the present : meditation is a great way to achieve living here and now. I have personaly started meditation and find it very helpful to cope with my anxiety disorder.
Anyways , keep posting Genius , I like your posts! We need a more positive attitude in order to become free again.
As you said it's just an illusion and I believe that our negative beliefs and thoughts are the main reason we keep living in the past , we make mental projections using our distorted way of thinking , which leads us to depression ultimately and keeps it alive.
I think that in order to live in the present it's important to adress the cognitive issue first , which means we must replace our negative thoughts with more positive ones.
There are many ways to live in the present : meditation is a great way to achieve living here and now. I have personaly started meditation and find it very helpful to cope with my anxiety disorder.
Anyways , keep posting Genius , I like your posts! We need a more positive attitude in order to become free again.
lyricalliaisons
Well-known member
If your present time is full of negativity, that is certainly not going to work. At the present time, my mother is in the nursing home & will probably not be home for quite some time. At the present time, I have found out that soon I will have zero money to pay bills, the rent, or anything else. At the present time, things are going very badly. So, although living in the present will work for people who have no real problems going on in their lives, for those with a lot of problems, that is not going to work.
If it was only that easy genius... That's what I've been trying to figure out for a very long time.
If there was any way I can hack my brain to have amnesia and forget everything and start over again I would do it.
A person's life isn't so simple a matter, the true answer is something you find out yourself by how you live your life.
If there was any way I can hack my brain to have amnesia and forget everything and start over again I would do it.
A person's life isn't so simple a matter, the true answer is something you find out yourself by how you live your life.
Square_Eyes
Well-known member
What has been and what might be are as important as the now. To me anyway.
How can I stop living in the past when all the "choices" I made put me here in the present? I need a time machine...
Replace 'thinking about' with 'planning for' and I might agree with you. The difference is quite substantial.
Rexus
Well-known member
How? I think medicating is the best way, since you have no control whatsoever anymore on these past "choices". The best action you can take is do the best you can now; you have control over the now and in the process the future, so basically make your past just something to learn from to make better decisions and choices in the now, because you have no control whatsoever over the past, so you're just being sore about it. And being the mentally ill people that we are, we will keep obsessing about it, so we need to medicate to realize that it's not that big of a deal and we should start living in the now with whatever life we have left.
LonelySmurf
New member
Like everything, it's all easier said than done. I used to think that happiness was merely a choice, that we choose each day when we get up to be happy. I know better now.
It's easy to say that we should choose to forget our past poor decisions, but more often than not the most regrettable decisions were made by other people in our lives. Then it's not a matter of forgetting but finding a way to live with matters that were not of our doing but which have affected us permanently anyhow.
It's easy to say that we should choose to forget our past poor decisions, but more often than not the most regrettable decisions were made by other people in our lives. Then it's not a matter of forgetting but finding a way to live with matters that were not of our doing but which have affected us permanently anyhow.