you know that feeling when you.....

[liveitup898]

you know that feeling when you are staring at the water, standing by the ledge of the swimming pool about to jump in? 

there are mixed feelings and emotions for different people....some feel excited, some feel a little nervous, some feel a small bit of worry that eventually changes to calmness or even excitement etc. etc. (you get the idea)....

the point is that eventually you jump in (shallow waters or even deep waters, doesnt matter)....point here is that you eventually jump in.

if you are like me, and struggle with daily worries or intrusive unwanted thoughts - and let it deter you from simply enjoying life or being productive - well then you should try this approach of the swimming pool, with your daily activities.

the moment you have an unwanted thought or worry, then picture yourself facing this worry, and jumping straight into it with no looking back.  start with small steps (or dives  ) and see how long you can take this no fear, no looking back approach....give yourself goals.....

the moment you have a worry on your mind....set yourself a goal of 2 minutes.....then jump into it and don't even look back at it for 2 minutes.  for the 2 minutes just be free...no worries...you are already in the water just enjoying it.....dont focus on the point where you were standing on the ledge going through all those weird emotions and feelings....

try this out...i know i will.....

i am sorry if this sounds confusing but it seems to be working for me so far....it's not easy, but the key to getting better is to be open to trying new things and keeping consistent with our efforts.

[kconnors]

Hi,

Thanks for the suggestion . . . it is not confusing at all and every strategy helps whether it works for one person or a hundred. . . . I have to concur that the small steps are better and that trying new strategies often opens an unexplored way out of anxiety . . . thanks again, kc

[Happy sailing]

Hi liveitup898
Please explain.  Like...jumping in and not having the worry..-are you saying to sort of depwell on what the worry is?
Also, how has this bern working for you?

[quote author=liveitup898 link=topic=61614.msg356806#msg356806 date=

if you are like me, and struggle with daily worries or intrusive unwanted thoughts - and let it deter you from simply enjoying life or being productive - well then you should try this approach of the swimming pool, with your daily activities.

the moment you have an unwanted thought or worry, then picture yourself facing this worry, and jumping straight into it with no looking back.  start with small steps (or dives  ) and see how long you can take this no fear, no looking back approach....give yourself goals.....

the moment you have a worry on your mind....set yourself a goal of 2 minutes.....then jump into it and don't even look back at it for 2 minutes.  for the 2 minutes just be free...no worries...you are already in the water just enjoying it.....dont focus on the point where you were standing on the ledge going through all those weird emotions and feelings....

try this out...i know i will.....

i am sorry if this sounds confusing but it seems to be working for me so far....it's not easy, but the key to getting better is to be open to trying new things and keeping consistent with our efforts.
[/quote]

[howifeel]

Had this recent experience. Freaked out about financial issues as we are in a BK ch13 and stand to owe a lot of taxes. Panicked, lost sleep. Then I thought, "What if I just stared this thing down, hammered out what "reality" is for us financially, and accepted it." Made a drastic plan and executed it immediately (before I talked myself out of it). Scary step indeed, but the minute I put it to action I am feeling less anxiety (but broke). Top Ramen for a while and hope to make the mortgage payment. We will see. Plan to sleep tonight, nevertheless. So, in a sense, lifeitup898 is on to something.

[reba1717]

I do know what it's like. With my first husband, he loved to sky dive. I hated that he did it. scared me to death. But After he passed away (i was in my 20's)- I did it. I got on the plane and jumped. Man what I would give to get that feeling back right now. Im in fear mode about my mom and test results. I wish I could just look it in the eye and move forward like I did jumping out of that plane... thanks for the reminder

[liveitup898]

Hi liveitup898
Please explain.  Like...jumping in and not having the worry..-are you saying to sort of depwell on what the worry is?
Also, how has this bern working for you?

Hi Happy Sailing,

No dont ever dwell on negative thoughts.  Dwelling is what makes things worse....

If you have something bothering you just drop that thought and go on with something else you want to do.  i know it's easier said then done but in order but...no pain no gain.  we have to sweat it out a bit and go through the weird vibes of ignoring the negative situation or thought. 

trust me, just force yourself to do it and you will win....practice makes perfect.

look at the negative thing as a pool of water........face it.....take a calm deep breath in and just jump!  when you are in the water all the worries subside and you realize you are having fun.

[Happy sailing]

Hey liveitup-
Thanks for responding. :
However, it is confusing.
Like you said- don't dwell on the negative thought or situation.  Ignore it and move onto something else.  Then you say To look at the negative thing and jump into it.  Sounds contradictory.  If you are to not dwell on it. ????
 

Also, have you ever found that the thought "etc" sort of gets "stuck"?  Like you are trying to think on something else but it just is sort of stuck in part of your consciousness?
Thanks!
 

[liveitup898]

Hi Sailing,

Sorry if what i said was confusing...

When i used the diving into the water scenario, i meant that initially you think of these scary scenarios but then once you are in the water you realize that its nothing at all like you imagined it to be BEFORE you dived in.  The moment you decided to dive into the water is the moment you decided to face your fear, and the very moment you entered the water is the moment your fear subsided...and eventually disappeared.

Dwelling on a thought means you are allowing it to stay in your mind and continue to stop you from doing what your heart wants you to do.......dwelling on a negative thought is like you standing at the edge of the pool, ready to dive in but you end up standing their for 1 hour dwelling on all these scary scenarios...and ultimately you never dive in because you scared yourself so much.

And yes i have those thoughts that literally feel stuck in my mind....it's like part of my OCD......but with a balance of medication and self therapy i have made huge improvements.  The thoughts still get stuck at times, but i push through it and ignore it best i can.

I believe that medication is not something i will need forever, and that therapy will eventually take over what medication does for me.....

I believe some people require the meds, and some don't....every one is different. 

[Happy sailing]

Hey there liveitup898!!

Way to go!! That is great!
Thanks for ALL the info!! 
Those are GREAT analogies and VERY inspiring!  Thank you!!   
I can relate. 
I am looking for a job and I had stopped working last May 2012 due to the physical symptoms that made it impossible to keep working at the time.  I haven't gone back to work since.  And since the anxiety issues started last year, I haven't attempted to go back to work, or work with some of the anxiety symptoms-fears etc. Ever before.  So it is a big leap back, if you know what I mean.  So, the sort of, "to heck with the fears" etc. I will put them out of my mind and push forward and leap into the water/job..
So thanks for the encouragement!!! 
Hugs!