I'm stuck romanticizing the past and it's keeping me from the present. Here's what I idealize: [describe the past period, relationship, version of yourself, or life stage you're fixated on, and how often you retreat there mentally]. Break the nostalgia spell: what am I actually missing? (the feeling, the person, the version of me, the lack of current responsibilities, or the innocence/hope I had?). Reality-check my memories: what am I conveniently forgetting about that past? (the problems I had then, why I wanted to leave it, the parts that actually hurt, the limitations I don't remember). Identify what nostalgia is protecting me from: engaging with my current reality, grieving what's lost, accepting aging/change, the work required to create something new, or admitting my current life isn't what I wanted. Then analyze the nostalgia type: relationship nostalgia (the one that got away), era nostalgia (my youth/college years), identity nostalgia (who I was before), place nostalgia (where I used to live), or possibility nostalgia (who I could have been). Decode the function: is nostalgia comforting me or imprisoning me? Am I honoring the past or using it to avoid the present? Create the escape plan: the memory rewrite (adding back the context I've sanitized), the grief work (mourning what's gone instead of pretending I can return), the present moment enhancement (making now worth staying for), the future vision creation (what's ahead that's worth leaving the past for), and the nostalgia trigger management (what sends me there and how to interrupt). Include: the past I'm clinging to that wasn't as good as I remember, what I'm not building now because I'm looking backward, and the truth about whether I want to go back or just don't want to be here.