Most of us know at a conscious, rational level that the past is gone and cannot be changed. Yet we may experience past events over and over again in our minds, and if these events are perceived as negative, they can cause feelings of distress, anxiety and depression. The key word here is perception. Even the original event was filtered through our system of values and beliefs to create our own unique perception. That perception, in all likelihood, is not an accurate representation of what actually happened, and the feelings one chooses to have about them are just that – choices.

Since our interpretation of the past is subject to the fallacies of perception anyway, why not choose to perceive those events in ways that are empowering. If you have an event that you ruminate on and it causes you anxiety or depression, ruminate on it in a new way. Make yourself the victor in a challenge you think you lost. Make a broken relationship the fault of the other instead of your own. If you failed at something, imagine you won and feel what that is like. It’s all in your imagination anyway, so make your imagination serve you so that you feel better. When you feel better, you perform better and your perception changes. When your perception changes, your thoughts change and therefore your memories change and it becomes a habit of thought; in the same way the old pattern of thought was a habit.