I saw this below at https://romancatholictruth.substack.com/p/spiritual-despondency-and-temptation-261 and figured it might be helpful. Saint Francis de Sales advises us not to dwell mentally too much on temptations, and the two chapters below from a different author go into more detail as to why not and how not. 

The link to the full book is also over the "Library" subforum at https://www.cathinfo.com/the-library/book-link-spiritual-despondency-and-temptations/msg923215/#new

From the book Spiritual Despondency and Temptations by Rev. P. J. Michel, S.J. (Benzinger Brothers, 1904, pages 205-212).

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Chapter XXVI:

Temptations, no Sign of a Dangerous State of a Soul in regard to God and Salvation

Frequent temptations may prove that the heart is subject to passions and inclined to evil, but, when rejected, they do not indicate that it is bad or separated from God. This inclination to evil which we inherit from our birth as a consequence of the sin of our first parents, is sometimes increased by the influence of the senses on the soul. They render us more or less subject to temptation, according as their impressions are more or less strong; and this being independent of our will and not having its origin in the heart, does not indicate a vicious state. It is not the cause of this sensible disturbance; on the contrary, it suffers from it; and when from its love for virtue it corrects the inclination, strong as it may be, the heart certainly does not become the worse for the effort.

This resistance to temptation shows a Christian heart, displays its attachment to God, the protection which He affords it, and is a source of consolation and confidence. This resolution to resist the inclination that solicits it, comes from the divine goodness which furnishes it graces all the more powerful in proportion to its danger. It is poor reasoning to say: if my mind and heart were in a good condition and well with God, should I have these thoughts and feelings so opposed to faith, to submission, to patience, which cause me such horror?

If these thoughts and feelings depended solely on your will, to have them, or not, you might, with some show of reason, deem yourself at enmity with God when you recognize their presence. But it does not wholly depend on yourself. These thoughts and feelings insinuate themselves silently, or violently possess themselves of your mind and heart without consulting your will, and what is more, they endure in spite of your will which would free itself of them, and uses every means for their expulsion. They are not, therefore, the result of your freewill, they are not of your choosing, and they can decide nothing concerning the good state of your soul, or against its union with God and virtue.

The heart becomes attached to an object only through deliberation and voluntary action. It can, therefore, belong to God, although it is exposed to involuntary feelings which are contrary to virtue, and which it condemns. I may say more; the pain that it feels, the horror which it conceives at being thus assailed, are a decisive proof that it is faithful to its duty and to divine love. If it loved God less, if it feared and hated sin less, it would not experience this pain, and trouble, and horror, it would listen to its inclinations and satisfy its desires. It cannot have any surer mark of its love for God and the perseverance which He gives it in opposing its evil inclinations.

The greatest saints have been subjected to this trial (St. Paul amongst others) and yet they loved God very much. Our divine Savior, the Saint of saints, suffered Himself to be tempted for our instruction. That which He willed to bear in His sacred humanity could be neither a sin nor even an imperfection, for He was as incapable of the one as of the other. We cannot then be guilty when we suffer it as He did, resisting it according to the measure of our strength.

Chapter XXVII:

In Temptation Recourse must be had to God — He Sustains us in the Combat although We do not Perceive it

God sometimes sensibly guides the soul in these storms by which it is agitated. We then buffet courageously the impetuous flood of our passions. The vivid sense of God's presence, the desire of loving Him which we feel, animate us and inspire us with confidence. But sometimes He conceals Himself; He seems to sleep, as He did in the bark of the disciples when it was on the point of being submerged in the raging sea. On such occasions the soul is endangered by the excessive fear that seizes and paralyzes the heart.

And yet there is nothing to fear if you will only lift your eyes to heaven, from which succor must come, and if you make use of its assistance. When the disciples were in danger of perishing they lost no time in useless lamentation; they did not, in childish fear, give up all care of the ship; they strove manfully with the storm and turning to their Master they implored His help. Jesus seemed asleep (Matthew 8:24) and yet He directed, without their being aware of it, the means which they employed to escape shipwreck. So, too, God, concealed as He is from sight, is not the less attentive to what is passing in your heart. To you it seems that the next moment will bring the wreck and yet you make head against the storm.

The motives that inspire you, the feelings which animate you and prompt your actions almost without your perceiving it, the courage which ever on the point of failing, is always reviving, the constancy with which you reject deceitful pleasures, the sinful pleasures offered by the enemy — from whom do they come? From your self? Weak as you are is this resistance yours alone? Does it not come from Jesus Christ, who, without making Himself perceived, affords you His powerful support, according to His word that He would not “suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Yes, when you think Him farthest off, Jesus is in the midst of your heart. You think yourself forgotten, and you are more than ever present to His memory, because you are in need. He is present at your combats as He was at that of St. Stephen (Acts 7:55) and, provided you do not lose confidence, He will make you victorious over your enemies by preserving you from consenting to their wicked designs.