What do I mean by that? Many people proclaim that you shouldn’t be in the past at all. I don’t think that’s useful advice nor is it realistic. The past and it memories often hold excellent lessons for us.

What this says, though, is that if you are going to “revisit” the past, monitor how much time you’re spending there and be aware of when it seems to be interfering with getting things done in the here and now.

Just as we need to recognize how much time we spend “scrolling” in social media, we need to do the same process when we find ourselves “scrolling” in our past.

The “past” includes thinking about things you think you did wrong or what you should or shouldn’t have done or said last week, last month, last night, etc. If there’s something productive that comes from looking in that direction, fine but second guessing and condemnation are just like all the annoying ads that seem to pop up endlessly in your other scrolling activities. They do nothing useful.

Can you “exit” these ruminations or are you caught in either of these addictions – social media or the past?