08-08-2016, 01:02 PM
After going through a lot of ups and downs these past few days I think I'm getting a better idea of what's going on right now. I've been doing a lot of stuff to build a better life for myself. But it's always been my greatest downfall how I expect myself to change or improve in a day or two.
I'll give an example. I've been building a deep breathing habit whenever I notice anxiety creeping in. I center my mind and relax as much as possible. The first few times I did this, the anxiety didn't go away. My immediate reaction was that I should just give up. But by immediately giving up I teach myself to give up in the face of anxiety and let it consume me. This has been a chronic problem in my life, when things don't work out or I feel I come up short somehow there's that urge to just run away. The biggest problem is by doing this so often I've built up an association that running from problems=relief, instead of facing them head on and solving them. It's a temporary relief though, I'll be relaxed and think I'm dealing with stress in a healthy way but I'm not because I'm ignoring things that need to be worked on. Now awareness of that alone won't grant me freedom from it immediately. Far from it. This is something I have to commit to and practice every day.
I often wonder just how much my personality type makes it difficult for me to integrate the changes E2 brings to the table. Like I said, I have a strong tendency to avoid things, even things that are in my head. I've been that way since I was a kid. I think that's why my life never had much direction because I was attached to that passive path and when anyone tried to show me something I'd just default back to that mental state of passivity. In a way fear isn't the only problem, it's also my reaction to it.
I've also been practicing gratitude a lot more lately. If you guys haven't done this, seriously consider it. My life is by no means perfect, but I've really started to feel truly grateful for the things I do have. Today I had to go grocery shopping which I really hate. But instead of feeling like it was a chore I turned it around. I recognized I had the opportunity to not only afford to eat, but have so many choices to choose from and enjoy.
I used to be really cynical about gratitude, feeling like it wouldn't make a bit of difference to my mental state. But the more I've done it now the more I start to value so many things that I took for granted before. Something as simple as being able to hear so I can make my music. It really helps get me out of that hyper-focused state where I'm ruminating on all the things that makes life difficult.
I'll give an example. I've been building a deep breathing habit whenever I notice anxiety creeping in. I center my mind and relax as much as possible. The first few times I did this, the anxiety didn't go away. My immediate reaction was that I should just give up. But by immediately giving up I teach myself to give up in the face of anxiety and let it consume me. This has been a chronic problem in my life, when things don't work out or I feel I come up short somehow there's that urge to just run away. The biggest problem is by doing this so often I've built up an association that running from problems=relief, instead of facing them head on and solving them. It's a temporary relief though, I'll be relaxed and think I'm dealing with stress in a healthy way but I'm not because I'm ignoring things that need to be worked on. Now awareness of that alone won't grant me freedom from it immediately. Far from it. This is something I have to commit to and practice every day.
I often wonder just how much my personality type makes it difficult for me to integrate the changes E2 brings to the table. Like I said, I have a strong tendency to avoid things, even things that are in my head. I've been that way since I was a kid. I think that's why my life never had much direction because I was attached to that passive path and when anyone tried to show me something I'd just default back to that mental state of passivity. In a way fear isn't the only problem, it's also my reaction to it.
I've also been practicing gratitude a lot more lately. If you guys haven't done this, seriously consider it. My life is by no means perfect, but I've really started to feel truly grateful for the things I do have. Today I had to go grocery shopping which I really hate. But instead of feeling like it was a chore I turned it around. I recognized I had the opportunity to not only afford to eat, but have so many choices to choose from and enjoy.
I used to be really cynical about gratitude, feeling like it wouldn't make a bit of difference to my mental state. But the more I've done it now the more I start to value so many things that I took for granted before. Something as simple as being able to hear so I can make my music. It really helps get me out of that hyper-focused state where I'm ruminating on all the things that makes life difficult.