The Challenge...Lesson 10

Are obsessive scary thoughts ruling your life? Do these thoughts seem beyond your control? Here’s how you can quickly address them and begin to feel better.
Paisleegreen
Posts: 1778
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:27 pm

Post by Paisleegreen » Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:00 am

I watched the OCD video links. Wow, they were powerful! It really struck a chord with me. Since I was merrily going along my way, just to be "crushed" by my son getting rid of my stuff either by packing it up or throwing it away was very devastating! :( Then to have my Therapist at the time tell me I got to get rid of more stuff, that set me into a very anxiety producing tailspin, that I experienced my first panic attack and subsequent anxiety and fearful thoughts. It was so over the edge to comprehend all that had happened to me. :eek:

For one thing, I was off of all anti-depressants that have helped me to cope w/ all negativity or stresses in my life up til then. No wonder I'm in such a mess right now. I have had to deal with my pain and lack of control by certain obsessions to keep my fears at bay and to calm my troubled heart.

Now I'm in a very raw place and cannot keep or do my compulsive activities to calm myself down or give me comfort w/o ridicule or criticism by the people I love the most.

I'm feeling this pain and mourning my losses. I'm feeling better as I acknowledge my feelings and letting the tears flow.

Thanks Mike and THH for your postings. And Mike you are working so hard to help us with the Sessions to be worked on, I really appreciate all your efforts. They are paying off tremendously in helping me w/my recovery. :) Paislee

THH
Posts: 860
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 10:53 am

Post by THH » Tue Nov 30, 2010 2:43 pm

Mike,
I liked the videos you posted!

The chess comic is a hoot :-)

Mike I'm not sure you can learn approval from someone else. I think it comes from with in. What I have to do is have faith in myself and step out on the limb and trust that I'm doing the right thing. When I do, I get a feeling of self approval.
I liked the Katy Perry song, And agree, you can't live your life FOR someone else. It just won't work. We are made different for good reasons. It is being confident of who you are and the path your on that brings self approval. You have it in you, or you would have never gotten this far in life!

Another Blondie moment! LOL.... :D

You deserve,
Lately I don't feel like i'm getting anywhere. Its like I'm just sitting here and going through the same cycle over and over again and part of this is true. I want more! I want a job, and some more money and I want to by necessities. I deserve that!


Yes you do!!!

Okay, here is mine:
I'm worried about my horse, hes sick (not really) What if the vet can't get here in time?
What if he has to go to the hospital, what if bla blaa..
WHAT IF HE GROWS WINGS AND FLY'S AWAY?

Just a thought here,
It sounds like your inner voice wants out and your telling it be quiet. You want a job, and things, and to go places have excitement in your life. AND you deserve that too! I would take some risky steps further to make these things happen for myself. You will never know unless you try it. It maybe time.
What is interesting, this may get a bit long but it may help, I'll try to make it short. Do you know anything about Eagles?
A mother eagle takes her baby eagles one at a time from the nest and drops them in the air. If they don't catch on, and they are free falling then she scoops them up and takes them back to the nest. She does this until the day the baby eagle starts flapping his wings and flys. Its fun to watch as there is always one who just sits in the nest. I think he must have a fit watching his fledgelings fly around. Then one day I see them all out circling darting around like crazy. Its a good life lesson nature teaches.
It makes me crazy in the spring when all the fledgelings are testing their flying ability's. All birds not just the Eagle. You can tell when the young ones are in their first stages of flying. Its a hoot!

Good for you on doing the relaxation exercise. I need to use that more often as well.

I like the focus thing, I say I can relate to that being true.
And I agree with the focusing thing for me blowing things up, making them very large.
Our mindset, our beliefs and the feelings we have about them.
I agree.
I LIKE THIS TONY ROBBINS!
Very motivating! I like it. I need this myself. Get the creative stuff moving!!! :D

Thanks for sharing! ^5

Paislee,
Keep working through it. We are all working on something.
Grief is so different for everyone. I pray for you to have comfort, and peace. Take your time, Time heals all wounds!
:)

NinjaFrodo
Posts: 1263
Joined: Wed Aug 18, 2004 3:00 am

Post by NinjaFrodo » Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:02 pm

<IMG class="inline_image" SRC="http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m225 ... s/1169.jpg">

a.marble1;

That was pretty awesome eh? It was hilarious when that woman told me she used it and started to laugh when her husband started to yell. I wish I was there.

Paisleegreen

Your welcome, I posted them mainly for you but anybuddy else can use it too. I had to chuckle about the chess cartoon myself, it was pretty great. I have some other awesome pictures but they aren't appropriate for this site if you know what i mean. Take your time with the links.

So would you say you have a bit of hoarding involved? Maybe you feel more comfortable with holding onto alot of things?

Which compulsive activities are you talking about? Is it more then just collecting things and keeping them?

So you are facing the fears then?

Thank you, i'm glad you appreciate my efforts. What has helped you out the most?


THH

I never really thought of the chess thing like that but it was so awesome to find this pic.

Well what I mean about learn it from someone else is when you grow up you learn by example. Your parents tell you, you did such an awesome job and you feel it. You learn to tell it to yourself because it was told to you. Thats what I mean as learning it from someone else. At this stage it has to come from within unless you have a friend that you can have come over and constantly tell you what a good girl you are for brushing your teeth or putting your clothes on all by yourself!

That way you came up with now sounds like it is effective, do you find it to be so?

Well you could live your life For someone else at least when it comes to activities. You can choose not to do those really fun things you like to do because someone else has a problem with it and it is really their own limitation or belief. If you decide to live your life like that then you really aren't living your life because you aren't doing it your way. When someone is bothered by something you do...it is their limitation! It is bothersome to them! Those people are struggling with the same anxiety and depression we are suffering with but they might not be as affected because they get their power out of controlling others with this behavior!

True I couldn't have done what I did with my life if I didn't have self-approval. I would have just gone along with everybody else but I didn't do that. I have some things I don't need approval for and many things I still do. I guess what i'm saying is that I want to rely more on my self-approval than I am with others.

I do deserve that don't I?

That is cute with your horse obsessive thought. What if he grows wings and flys away! What if he also finds a tutu and wears it and then finds a magic wand and becomes your horsey fairy god's mother? And then it creates magic horsey poop and you and it go to your enemies houses and throw the magical poop!

That is exactly what is happening and what has happened countless times when it came to the program. I wanted to do stuff but my "story" prevented me from doing so. Things like Nobody will hire me because of my condition, What-if I need to leave and they won't let me...stuff like that. You are bang on with your thought.

I know nothing about the eagles accept the band they had that song Hotel California

Wow that is pretty cool actually. Maybe it'd be good to set something like that up. Or maybe I do...I have disability and it can be like a net. Maybe i just need to push myself. Thats cool thank you! Haha a hoot nice pun!

Yeah its useful...I'm finding another resource that is even more useful at least during the morning! I'll post about it further down in this post.

Tony Robbins is amazing! He is the guy you go to for motivation and energy! Also you can use his techniques to change beliefs if David D Burns's techniques like the feared fantasy don't work for you. This is not CBT but NLP or neurolinguistic programing. I will be posting more about his stuff from now on.



Tuesday
Ok So after listening to Tony Robbins's cd's or at least 2 of them I decided to use his hour of power session. Basically when you start your morning (or you can do it whenever you want), you start off walking and then you do a breathing technique (4 inhales and 4 exhales), you then focus on everything and everybody in your life that you are greatful for, then you focus on what goals you want to achieve for yourself and then you do incantations that state how you have what it takes to achieve these goals. I have done this in the past and I felt good but stopped doing it for some stupid reason and so I started again and I did feel really amazing and empowered. I actually looked for more motivating feelings and I went to hip hop and just did really phenominal! I got so into it and I was so confident and I still screwed up at the end of the routine and still haven't gotten it down but it didn't matter. It was just amazing, the whole day I carried that emotional state with me, it was awesome. It was satisfying and it did help to fill a void. NO matter how much cbt I would do I still wouldn't feel satisfied and fulfilled but this did it for me! I do however notice the fear I have facing these goals and I'm probabbly going to have to do some belief changing for it but thats fine. Another thing in hip-hop was I told myself that instead of worrying about not doing a good job or getting the routine I told myself that I'm going to do everything I can to make this work and I will get it no matter what, and I got most of it so that was cool and I enjoyed the hip-hop so much more! The instructor also mentioned a routine I got really good at and I made a physical change to get into the same mindset that I was doing when I did that old routine and it helped!

When we became anxious it started off with one situation. Then those anxious feelings came up again in a diffrent situation (maybe we were worrying about the feelings from the first situation) and then it multipled until it became unbearable and it put a major strain on our lives! Well I can use this idea for the good stuff too! If I think in that negative downward spiral then I can pull out the memory of that hip-hop dance to break the cycle and put me in a powerful state. I can collect more and more of these memories from the good things I do and the really enjoyable dances and keep bringing them up when I get into an irrational way of thinking! This could work out really amazingly. Funny thing is my friend, my instructor and I call it the monkey dance and I kinda get all apeish in order to put myself in that mindstate and could you imagine me doing that when people start to criticize me?

Actually there was a move in the choreo that kinda resembled milking a cow and I just started to laugh in my head! The moves following that would have been really painful for the cow though!

Think about things I am getting really fed up! I've been telling myself that my life is ok and I've been telling myself I'm not ready for a job yet and telling myself I can't get into a relationship, I can't buy myself nice things, I can't do alot of things I want to do and my life is still a struggle! This is complete BS! My life is not ok, its TERRIBLE! How many more days, months, years or even decades am I willing to give to this condition? How many great opportunities am I going to give up because "i'm not good enough?" How many people am i going to let drift away from me? How many more moments am I going to spend struggling? How many awesome things am I going to give up because other people criticize me about them? How many more times am I going to let my feelings keep me from achieving the things I want? How many more times am I going to run away and keep excusing myself from feeling happy and experiencing joy? How many more hours, days and years am I going to spend feeling miserable, hating myself, feeling guilty and just coping with life instead of experiencing the awesome parts of it? I might be afraid but this is utter crap! I don't deserve this, I don't deserve any more of this self-inflicted torture. I don't think any of us do. Am I right? But if I continue to live this way then it'll be a huge waste! I'd be like a caterpillar rotting away in a cocoon! I have to take action because this is just unacceptable!

One day too late by skillet


Mike
Last edited by NinjaFrodo on Tue Nov 30, 2010 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Here is the link to the Letting Go thread which is designated for venting
http://forum.stresscenter.com/viewtopic ... 52&t=25087

You can follow me on Twitter, same username or check out my blog

http://ninjafrodo.blogspot.com/

Paisleegreen
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Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:27 pm

Post by Paisleegreen » Tue Nov 30, 2010 5:09 pm

Thanks THH :) Yep, I'm working on it...
I do love the story about the Eagles, we have hawks that live in our neighbor's trees. I use to think the baby hawks were stray kittens. So I would go outside and start looking for them and calling, "Kitty, kitty, kitty..." I think it drove my dog crazy! :D Until between my sons and I, we deducted that it is the baby hawks making sounds like a lost kitten.

It is amazing to watch those birds fly! :) Now I'll look more closely this spring to see how the mother teaches them. :)

I hope your little critter is doing better. Those "what ifs" just keep our minds reeling...whew. It is so nice to hear Lucinda explain that phenomenon to us on her CDs.

Karen L
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Joined: Tue Sep 14, 2010 11:09 pm

Post by Karen L » Wed Dec 01, 2010 1:20 am

Hi everyone....things are going good here.....was really busy with Thanksgiving..had my family over and everything went great!!! was it perfect?? no....but it was excellent :)
been busy coming and going and working through alot of issues.....remain a bit confused but the glasses are becoming clearer and clearer :)
I have alot of reading to catch up on, but this really was a much needed break....just a break from the program as I really do have to practice what I have learned but also deal with alot of past issues...
just wanted to let everyone know I here n good :) didnt just fall off the face of the earth lol....hope all is good with everyone and I will get my groove back here soon :)

Paisleegreen
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Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:27 pm

Post by Paisleegreen » Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:54 am

Hi Karen L--So glad to hear from you and that you survived Thanksgiving! Yippee! :D

Paisleegreen
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Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:27 pm

Post by Paisleegreen » Wed Dec 01, 2010 9:09 am

When we became anxious it started off with one situation. Then those anxious feelings came up again in a diffrent situation (maybe we were worrying about the feelings from the first situation) and then it multipled until it became unbearable and it put a major strain on our lives! Well I can use this idea for the good stuff too! If I think in that negative downward spiral then I can pull out the memory of that hip-hop dance to break the cycle and put me in a powerful state. I can collect more and more of these memories from the good things I do and the really enjoyable dances and keep bringing them up when I get into an irrational way of thinking! This could work out really amazingly. Funny thing is my friend, my instructor and I call it the monkey dance and I kinda get all apeish in order to put myself in that mindstate and could you imagine me doing that when people start to criticize me?
Mike--I think you are doing good at your changing negative thoughts to good thoughts.
And there aren't many out there that I know that can Hip Hop, so that is a wonderful skill. :)

Now you are addressing your underlying feelings that you have posted in BOLD type. This is good, this way you can express your despair right now at your situation. How are you feeling now?

What type of job are you looking for or wanting? Can you write it down and put it in detail what it would be like?

I forgot to add that I love the picture of the giraffe and lion. Very funny! :D

THH
Posts: 860
Joined: Mon May 10, 2010 10:53 am

Post by THH » Wed Dec 01, 2010 2:14 pm

Mike,
Nurturing you, I get that. ( that is what I call it anyhow) Yes you are right at this stage of the game you have to do it for yourself. Find things that make you feel good when you feel down, cold, tired, insecure. Sometimes just little things like a warm blanket, or a bowl of hot soup helps me.

Yes, I can when I make the conscious move to push my self and it comes out good. I feel very empowered by it. When I'm feeling unsure of my self, when I do the task at hand I generally have a good out come.

I also must say the feeling you describe with wanting to be more reliant on your self approval, is a life long thing. It has for me, and I do a okay job, but it is on going. Its seams like not a place you get and stop.

YES YOU DO!!! :)

LOL... I liked yours better with the magic poop! LOL... Or the tutu!
Its funny because when I say that,with the what ifs, it is very hard to go back and dwell on something. The humor really does the trick. Your right, you go on to think about I wonder where he would fly off too? LOL...

I really like his energy! (Tony Robbins)

Hey that is GREAT you had such a good day with your hip hop and your confidence and such.
I change my beliefs all the time. That I think is how you learn what beliefs work for you!
And that is very cool you learned a new way to use your power for the "good stuff" too. Very cool!

[QUOTE

Actually there was a move in the choreo that kinda resembled milking a cow and I just started to laugh in my head! The moves following that would have been really painful for the cow though! [/QUOTE] HUH? LOL... :D



Paislee,
That is funny you thinking the baby hawks were baby kittens! LOL..
We have a 200 acre swamp in our back yard. We get all kinds of birds! I should video some time all the very cool things we get to see. Every spring the long tailed black birds come. It looks like a Alford Hitch**** movie when they return. Noisy! Geez...They flock up every fall, and leave. Its amazing to see. We feel so lucky to be witness of such things. Keep in mind the Eagles are the only birds that I know that drop their babies! If your lucky enough to have a nest you can watch, the barn swallows are fun to watch too. You can tell the young ones though, regardless, they have really bad timing and sometimes their mothers bring them to the feeders and still feed them! Get a good bird book, from the Autobahn for your area, then you'll know what to look for! I love watching for them!

Karen,
YEY!!! Thanksgiving sounded like it went very well! We are getting snow! It is cold today, windy too. I hear we can get up to 18 inches by this weekend! It really will feel like Christmas now!
Hope your feeling happy about your progress. :)

Paisleegreen
Posts: 1778
Joined: Mon Oct 25, 2010 5:27 pm

Post by Paisleegreen » Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:18 am

THH--We get irrigation water and have a creek that is near us, so we get alls kinds of birds and critters. I wasn't too happy thought to have a Raccoon family come and visit my fish ponds and help themselves. :eek:

Now that my dog is in doggy heaven, the critters are more abundant and since I did little gardening, many of my clematis vines went crazy and baby quail would be hiding in them. Just perfect for our "hunter" cat. Very frustrating to have the leftover feathers all over the hallway floor when I got up in the morning. :roll:

We've had the blue heron come by too, but I was so happy when the Mother Hawk nearby attacked it while it was in flight. That was an amazing event to see. A lot of screeching going on when that happened that caused us to go find where the noise was coming from.

I've been quite lucky to not have one of those blue big birds eat my pond fish. :) Whew!

Well, today, I finally turned on my stereo and I'm playing my Christmas CDs. I think I'm ready to get a tree or take down the fake one from the rafters! I'm still trying to get in the mood though. Paislee

mcshope
Posts: 259
Joined: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:02 am

Post by mcshope » Thu Dec 02, 2010 11:38 am

Hello Everbody!!! I am still alive... :D

WOW... Thanksgiving is gone and now we are in the countdown for Christmas. Do you celebrate Christmas???... I do, it used to be my favorite holiday, now not so much... I guess it is because I do not have small kids at home anymore. The kids will spend the 24th with their mom and the 25th with us. Probably we will have my husband's family too.

My family in Mexico is having their own problems, my parents decided to celebrate in Mexico City and all my brothers and sisters live in Monterrey. There have been problems with one of my sisters-in-law (she is nuts!!!).
I guess is one of those situations that I can't do anything about. I am just surprised that my parents decided to stay in Mexico City.

I'm a little upset because of this, but I know I can't do anything.

Hope
"Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its trouble, it empties today of its strength." – Unknown

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