Psychology: 5 Ghost Strategies Against Ghosts of the Past

There is a certain smell that always throws me into my grandmother’s kitchen. This is probably a combination of fried onions and freshly washed laundry and soap, but to me it means home. When the scent enters my nose, it automatically turns into an inner feeling – and as a blonde 5-year-old girl, I’m back at the edge of my grandparents’ window.

I love to travel backwards. So when I read everywhere that one must live in the present, I stubbornly hold on to memories like this: I don’t want to. You don’t have to either, because what I mean by that is: The past doesn’t always have to mean negative things. Instead, many of our memories still keep a piece of our history alive.

However, if we lose ourselves too much in it, or if negative emotions come to power, they take us little by little, occupying our present and with it our future.

Because unfortunately, it is not the positive ghosts of the past that haunt us at night, that stand by our side in times of self-doubt and uncertainty. But those who shaped us in a different way. Souls who know that everything has not always been a kitchen of joy and peace. These could be people who have pushed us to our limits. We didn’t want to give it up, but we had to. Or mistakes we made and still haven’t forgiven ourselves.

So ghosts of the past can take on a variety of shapes, smells, colors and feelings. We would like some of them to be on our side. Others prevent us not only from looking forward – but from getting to the present in the first place. Time to say goodbye.

5 Psychology Tips for Putting the Past Alone

Nice reminder: you decide who you are and who you want to be

The past shapes you, you will find the cause of your problems in your childhood… Yes yes, this may all be true, but for now let’s take a deep breath and let the spirits rest. We don’t have to scour our entire history for every obstacle today. This means more work! Meditation is great, but sometimes we also tend to give too much power to our past. Protagonist: In We Are Still Ourselves, we define who and how we want to be today and in the present moment. We have all the tools at hand to decide for ourselves how we want to live in the future.

Get out of your mind

A lot of the tips seem so simple, but they mean a lot of thought to the work. That’s why it’s in your hands now: take a pen and write everything down. Letters to the exiles. To the people we still want to say something to. Anger, sadness and lost hopes, just put everything on paper that you do not dare to express. It sounds cliched, but it helps.

Remember how it really was – not how you imagined it

I often find myself missing out on time, but I miss the idea of ​​it. Our brain loves to play tricks on us, consciously remembering the positive and ignoring the negative. If you feel like going back in time, stop the movie and question yourself: Is everything really better than it is today?

Learn to forgive yourself and others

You can no longer change the past, but you can decide how you deal with it – and whether you want to let the mistakes of the past determine your present and, above all, your future. We all make mistakes. genuinely. everybody. And there is certainly something in the phrase that we learn from them. But this only works if we accept it and no longer judge ourselves.

Imagine yourself in 10 years

Do you want to remember the current stage of your life in which you filled it with only the past? Build yourself a life that will be your future. Just ask ghosts: why do they appear again? What do you want to say for me? And when we get enough answers, we can be rude and push them away. We’re too busy right now to live in the moment. So that we don’t have ghosts again in ten years!

And one last little tip: there are plenty of tips to influence you and your psyche in a positive way. But there is nothing wrong with asking for help. After all, there are therapists for that.

Jedo