Hi Im new!!

[samcat]

blenderina,

Way to go!! I like that you said you see a ladder out of the pit of despair. It can feel just like a pit of despair--good description! But the ladder is there and you are starting to climb it. It will take a while, but you are on your way. Once you learn to accept the anxiety, to "float with it", it isn't some big scary monster anymore, but you know it is just your body producing too much adrenaline and other stress hormones. What you are having is a false alarm in your normal "fight or flight" reaction. Once you see it that way, it starts to scare you less and less.

Losing a job in this economy can be darned stress provoking. My sister was out of a job for a year, but now she has one that she loves. Jobs are out there. I even read a story about a woman who lives in Memphis who lost her job. She wasn't having luck finding another one like the one she had, so to make money, she started cleaning houses for her friends. Then she got the idea to start a company doing people's laundry. She called it the Laundry Fairy and now she has plenty of business, several part time workers that are college students and she is going to nursing school. Once she becomes a nurse, she plans to sell the business she built. Just shows there are creative ways to make money. I thought it was a great story.

You are exactly right--worry is a learned habit, and boy, was I a major worrier! I have learned it is totally non-productive--plan instead of worry. You'll learn more about that in later lessons.

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Just do the stuff I advised Dolphin to do--I learned it all the hard way because i didn't have anybody with any experience at this to help me. Am very proud of you--you are going into this program with a positive, can do attitude and our attitude is the most important thing of all. It is what will get us where we want to go.

[tina martin]

Samcat, you write such beautiful posts. This thread can be an inspiration to others.

[samcat]

Thanks Tina. You make me blush. I just see my posts as common sense and sharing the experiences I have gone through, both good and bad. Am just trying to nurture some of the new ones. You and I know what a help that can be--to give someone who is unsure and scared encouragement. I just wish more of the other members with experience would chime in. I am sure they have some good perspectives to offer that would be a big help to the new members.

[tina martin]

Hi samcat, I feel badly sometimes that I don't post more. But there is only so much time. Furthermore, I have found people often don't relate well to what I say. My general message is "There is no free lunch." It takes work, much work, to get better and, in my case, the work is never done. It is an ongoing process. Sometimes I get weary of it but then start up again.

I am very grateful for the site and thrilled when there are no new invaders or we just move along ignoring them.

[samcat]

Tina,

Your general message is right on. At least, that is the way it is for me too. Some people seem to have an easier time getting over this than others. Don't know why, but I am like you. It is taking a lot of work to get over this and I am still not there yet!!

And you are right, you have to take care of yourself first--just like they tell you when the oxygen masks drop on a plane--"Put on yours first".

[billym71]

I just wanted to say that I am new to this as well but not new to anxiety and depression . I first read the book Panic to power from Lucinda which helped me about 6 years ago . What I have learned is that stress management is key . I own my own business which has had its high and lows . I know have a much better understanding on why I become anxious and have panic attack. I can tell everybody that I have beaten this once before and will do it again !. I have had so many similar symptoms that other people have shared . I have learned so many helpful tips from this program . I still do have anxiety but other days I have complete normal days . It will get better just keep training your mind away from those negative thought and believe me I am the king of negative thought but know I am journaling them which seems to help . Some say to trash I save for a day then look at them again ..Boy are they stupid !

[tina martin]

It's lovely that you found this thread and popped it up. There are others that are also inspiring.

Keeping our varied demons at bay is a constant, daily effort, at least for me. I must continue to read, to think, to write, to keep goals at the forefront every day. I must exercise, must meditate, must repeat to myself this and this and that, etc. etc. to keep afloat. A dieter must stick to the diet, an athlete must keep training. And so it is with us. We must banish the negatives and roll out the red carpet for the positives. That is the program in perpetual motion.