Empowering Group Program Run-through part15

[Ninjafrodo2]

Here we are at the final lesson...wow us! I think we've been at it for the last 17 or 18 weeks, thats about 4 and a half months!!! Definately something to be proud of.

So to recap....we learned about the symptoms of the anxiety and depression as well as the body symptoms during an anxiety/panic attack, we learned how to respond when body symptoms come up, we learned how to talk ourselves into feeling better, we learned about how we can change our expectations in order to reduce our stress/anxiety/depression, we learned about how exercise and diet can help to make us feel better, also the importance of anger in our lives as well as how to communicate that anger in a more effective and considerate manner, we learned about guilt/shame as well as fear and some ways to work through those emotions, we learned how we can change our perception and thoughts in order to anticipate positive outcomes, we learned about obsessive thinking and how to use humor to jump out of the obsessive cycle, we learned about alcohol and drugs, we focused on the positive aspects of the anxiety and depression that keep us stuck and how to work through that, and in the last lesson we learned about how we can change our response from one where we work ourselves up about external stressors and cause more stress to accepting what is and working with it so we aren't building up the stress... This is alot of information, I think we've all worked as hard as we could from where we are at the moment and like it said in the last lesson, creating a positive lifestyle is an ongoing thing. If you aren't where you thought you'd be at this point, thats ok because we can all continue to practice what we have learned, we can go back to different lesson cds or workbook information and focus more on the areas we feel need more attention and our path is our own, the speed in which we grow and I guess recover is going to be different for each person and it may not correspond to the ammount of time the program has given....especially again since it is alot of information.

If you do find yourself feeling discouraged or like you failed then guess what....its time to look at your expectations and instead of looking at where you haven't gotten and what you're lacking, its time to look at where you have gotten, what you've gained and what you have accomplished and I can say from reading the posts from everybody in this run through, every single one of us has made accomplishments that are worthy of celebrating and feeling great about...every single one of us has taken the chance and shown their courageous side despite the challenges that presented themselves, and that is what is the real accomplishment!

So we still have this last lesson's cd and workbook stuff to get through and then we are done as far as this run through is concerned...That being said, I think it would be wise to spend some time discussing our overall experiences and maybe touch on areas that we could continue to improve on.


Mike

[THH]

Very nice recap Mike!
We have been working very hard on understanding and trying to apply these lessons to our lives. All of us have made a big effort and posted regular on our progress, set backs, and moves forward. Again, it is a life long journey. Hopefully we all know our patterns and if nothing else we know not to fear it. Just start to be patient with ourselves and work the program. We control our thoughts and we can feel confident that we do know how to help ourselves.

I have not started my CD or work book, but I will tonight.

I enjoyed your company Mike, & forever young, and all the other people who posted with us along the way. It is kind of sad at times for the end of something to come along. But we have learned about new beginnings are fun too.

I do feel that I have worked through many of things that I had trouble with and I do feel much better than I did when I started this run through. As all of us will have ups and downs that is life in general. We have learned how to get through the downs, and look forward to having more up days.

As far as areas that need improved on for me... I thing my first is negative thoughts, 2nd would be anticipation 3rd expectations. I must revisit these cds more often rather than getting stuck and dwelling on something too long.

I'll post my overall experience after I do this lesson. Have a good night all!!!

[coachchris]

So exciting and encouraging to see all of you persevere. What a great gift you have given yourselves. It just keeps getting better. I promise. Keep moving toward more. I hope that you will continue to encourage others around the site. You are salt and light to many!!!

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt

[THH]

Coach Chris,
Loved your quote. Very nice and many things to think about. It is what this is all about. Very fitting. And thanks for stepping in from time to time adding your thoughts!

I am short on time will post more later. Have a good day everyone.

[Ninjafrodo2]

Yay i'm glad Coachchris came back. I also think I remember Lucinda saying part of that quote that she put in her reply, it is a good one

Also THH that is really great that you got what you did from this run through, I have myself in fact, I have been able to integrate more of the lessons we have learned here into something easier to work with, at least when it comes to facing limitations themselves. I think Jan also had a great list that she spoke about in the lesson cd as well.

I also liked in the cd when Lucinda talks about how she lives in the moment now, instead of all the old anxiety type thoughts distracting her from it...how she is fully there holding her children's hands and when she is fully enjoying the moment while driving down the road...it is great because it gives us something to work towards and look forward to.

I got another kind of insight that I want to share with you all. I have alot of goals that I want to achieve, I have alot of dreams and aspirations and I have alot of ideas when it comes to improving certain aspects of my personality as well as cultivating certain personality traits. I tried to do so much in a day because I was trying to work on all of these things all at once so I can achieve them...well needless to say (although I already have a few times), I burn't out and got overwhelmed and then ended up doing almost nothing and have been going through this cycle so many times. So I thought about what I read in the workbook for this lesson and what they talk about with lesson 9 where you set aside time to problem solve, as well as lesson 13 the part about priorities. I decided to write out my priorities for now but also priorities for the future and I pushed alot of my dreams and stuff towards the future and right now I decided to focus on the main problems that I've been struggling with most of my life and some other problems that are also significant (debts). I have been ignoring debts for awhile and just trying to go for my dreams but I'm realizing that any unresolved and significant problem (especially one that can get worse in the future), is going to cause anxious thoughts and feelings and thats is what is going to keep me stuck, it isn't just inevitable that anxiety and depression happen it is all the little problems that I don't look at and the feelings that I run away from that keep me stuck in it...so that is what i'm going to do.

I just started to budget and so I'm able to feel safe putting a certain ammount of money towards debts but it wasn't enough for how I setup my budget. Even though I really like my Krav Maga classes, I decided to put that on the back burner and instead put that extra money towards my debts (the smaller ones)...I realized that even though I do enjoy Krav Maga, that joy is not going to take away the negativity I get from running away from my debts, in fact its only going to squash it and make me feel guilty and guilt steals pleasure away, it makes me feel unworthy and then its just hard to do anything good for myself. That being said, I don't have to give up on my Krav Maga, I'm just putting it on hold for a short while.

Another thing, my biggest limitation is resting...I feel like I have to be productive all the time and so instead of spending alot of my time facing my other fears, I've decided that I need to do more resting for now, while i'm work through my thoughts and work on the basics of life (budgetting, cleaning up, time management, meal planning..ect), and really just taking care of myself with daily chores and such.

I still have alot of asperations but I think I need to get myself to a healthier state where I'm feeling rested as well as organized before I take on these new things.


Mike

[forever young 06]

Mike I knew something was wrong with you being so quite. I myself have a problem with my time as I waste too much of it. I am not organized at all. I have a lot to do and keep putting all it off. I need to come up with a plan and start some where. I need to have a plan for facing my limitations too. I need to also learn what I want to do and make a plan for getting there. I no longer need to say I am too old to change now. at least I did get thru but need to go back and review.

[THH]

Many good things to remember after finishing listening to the last session. I too liked the list the one gal made up and read. Also the poem that Tammy wrote to herself was very nice.
At this point for me, I feel stronger today than I did when I started. This is what I am focused on. As they said in the cd, anxiety is a state of mind. This program teaches ways to change that state of mind by giving different approaches to use.
One thing comes to mind, as all of us get overwhelmed when we think of too many things at once. It then does become very hard to know where to start. Then it seams like that is the opening door to automatically revert to the bad habit thinking, or what we know best. It too is something to work on. So the snowball continues to roll and get bigger.

We have covered so much material and had so many overwhelming thoughts on many of the subjects. I think it is good in a way, but now the hard part starts by continuing to review our lives and make the changes as we find them not so overwhelming or gradually moving on to a different area. I think for me I am feeling more secure in feeling the fear and not being frightened by it. Something is changing in my views I guess. This is not to say I do not have areas to work on or that I have this studied well. But for today, and that is all I am looking at.

Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only
to be understood. I can study at least one of my fears to understand it better. - Marie Curie

Mike:
All those things that you spoke of, dreams, working on things, debts ect... are big things! I too would feel overwhelmed. Don't forget baby steps. Those are the goals, and as long as you make any forward progress towards them you are moving in the right direction.

Forever Young:
I got my welcome packet in the mail to day! Cards and all.

Good for you!!! You finished... yes I too will be reviewing many of these sessions again.

[forever young 06]

THH I am glad you have got your insurance cards hope it works well for you. I haven't used my insurance yet. I hope it is good. I am going to keep working on these skills. I need to do the relaxtion tape more or find one that I like better. I want to keep up with the breathing exercises. I wish we could stay in touch some how. I hate loosing this support. could we share email addresses our some other way of connecting?

[THH]

Forever Young,
I sent you a PM. Check your mail. Let me know if you got it.

[Ninjafrodo2]

I'm still here but have had some issues with logging on the last couple of days. I just wanted to say Congratulations for everybody getting through all 15 weeks, I know it wasn't easy but we all did it anyways...yay!

And yeah ForeverYoung that was mainly the issue as to why I was being so quite, I was just really overwhelmed! Its a process to figure out the balance, I seem to go back and forth between too much planning in the day to no planning at all and its challenging but i'm working through it. Right now i'm just trying to focus on the very basics with cleaning, organizing, cooking, meal planning, budgetting, my own version of meditation, one of my enjoyable projects and a bunch of tv shows to watch. I'm doing my best to eliminate any unnecessary stress right now and then i'll get more into facing my limitations.

Speaking of Growth Spurts...Do you remember when I said that life tends to mimic these lessons and things just happen that follow with them? Well here is my growth spurt...my landlord has decided to put the house up for sale for the next 2 months. So this means that I may have to find a new place to live (which i'm really nervous about mainly about how people would respond to me being on Disability) and it also means that strangers are going to be coming into my room with almost no prior notice. Its life, its stressful and it gives me a reason to use what i've learned to get myself through the challenging time and to make my situation an even better one.

Sounds like you are doing very well THH and that going through the program helped you...great job! And thank you for the encouraging words, you're right. I never really thought about how those positive things where overwhelming me and stressing me out, I guess if you really look at it, it is the expectations of going after them all right now that is what is doing it. I'm not at that point and its not reasonable to jump right in head first but I'm still moving forward on the things I need before doing that so I am moving in the right direction.


Mike