Staying in the present and being mindful can be hard.
As humans, we tend to dwell on past events and worry about the future.
Consider the following to help you treat the past, present, and future you with compassion.
PAST
In thinking about the past, you may be faced with feelings of guilt, shame, and regret. You might think about how foolish you were and how you would do things differently if you knew then what you know now.
Faced with the knowledge that we cannot turn back time and change the past, we can, instead, make conscious decisions about what lessons and emotions we want to carry into the future.
- When you look back, in what ways can you empathize with your past self?
- In what ways can you empathize with how past you felt, given the circumstances they had to face?
- Imagine how they would feel if they knew you were supporting them.
If you could provide encouragement to you from the past, what would you say?
FUTURE
Anxiety can be adaptive. It can help us feel prepared and, at low levels, can enhance our performance.
Nevertheless, it often stops being helpful when we hyper-focus on the "what ifs" and when our cortisol levels are so high they take a negative toll on our health. Anxiety can also lead us to avoid things. The frustrating fact is that, avoidance maintains anxiety. So you may feel relief in the short-term when you avoid a stressful activity, but that anxiety will persist in the long-term.
- What can you say to coach yourself around engaging in a healthy activity you are avoiding?
- How can you turn your "what if" thoughts into more productive "to do" action items?
- What can you say to be consistently kind and compassionate toward yourself in making healthy changes?
What can you do today, that future you will thank you for?