Distressing but not dangerous news

Today is a great day. When I woke up it was overcast, a nice reprieve from the heat wave we've had here in Southern California. By now, however, the fog has burned off and the sun is shining mercilessly outside.

I'm having a difficult time coming up with a blog title today. I finally reached my doctor by phone - no small miracle - but he reaffirmed what he told me before. I don't deal with any type of bad news well, so I decided to draw upon my Recovery training to get me through this and keep my nervous symptoms to a minimum. Plus, I have my meeting tonight and I can give an example (about any symptoms I may have, that is), if I need to.

Fertility problems are pretty average for women in their 40s, so I can even see this as a triviality to some degree. And I can look at the total view, that I already have a child and he's a pretty wonderful kid. As long as I change insecure thoughts for secure ones, I can avoid those troublesome nervous symptoms, like panic attacks, lower tones (which is what we in RI call depression, effectively removing the danger from the symptoms -- I mean, if you say, "I'm depressed," it's a diagnosis and it often connotes danger), and obsessive thoughts.

In our RI meetings, at the end of each example, we share what our reactions would have been before our RI training. This is an objective way to measure how well RI is working for us even though we may not see it. I know before learning the Recovery method, I'd have been obsessing about this for days, perhaps weeks, unable to focus on work or my daily obligations at home. The really cool thing about RI is that you can use it for really small trivialities, but it also helps with the bigger things in life, too. At least, that's my experience.

Comments

  1. Cliff BrownJuly 30, 2009 at 11:29 AM

    Hello Nervous Girl,

    Good example and high average spotting. Knowing that you are among a large group of women who have to deal with this can help to take the danger out. A great before/after picture, too!

    All my best,

    Cliff Brown

    ReplyDelete
  2. DougAugust 1, 2009 at 4:57 AM

    Sounds like you are effectively spotting. Are you also endorsing? :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 1, 2009 at 7:31 AM

    Hi, NG, so much improvement from before RI. You can endorse for all your efforts! You are being self-led, not symptom-led.

    ReplyDelete
  4. nervousgirlAugust 4, 2009 at 5:51 PM

    I endorse a little every day. Thanks for the comments.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The 4th of July--A great opportunity to bear the discomfort

Wow, it's been almost a year since I last posted and so much has changed. A little over a week ago, I tripped while walking on the sidewalk and fractured my upper left arm.  I'm trying to type this blog by using voice-to-text software and also typing with one hand: an interesting combination and a way to toughen my nervous fiber. Because of the pandemic, many of us were able to avoid 4th of July gatherings last year. If you're anything like me, gatherings for holidays can create an environment in which symptoms explode like popcorn.  Later today, we are attending a small Fourth of July gathering at a relative's house. It will be held outside, and the complicating factor is that because I fractured my arm I'm still in a bit of pain and have to wear a sling, which makes me very warm. So now I have to sit outside on a patio all day where it will be pretty hot, and I will have to bear a lot of discomfort. I thought of some spots that might help me, which include "w
Read more

"The Wisdom of Dr. Low"

I just purchased a copy of the latest RI book, "The Wisdom of Dr. Low: Words to Live By." This great resource has frequently-used and not so frequently used spots and quotations heard at Recovery meetings from four of Dr. Low's books. So, while at a meeting you might hear someone spot "the passion for self-distrust," you can open the book to the section on averageness, and read the sentences that precede it and put it into context. Plus, it gives readers the book and page from which the quotation originates. It also has quotes from "My Dear Ones," a biography about Dr. Low written by Neil and Margaret Rau. Whether you are new to Recovery or a veteran member, this resource is great because it organizes the quotations by topic, including averageness, beliefs, depression, obsessions, panic, self-diagnosis, self-help, sleep, temper, and trivialities, just to name a few. And it gives members insight into the program. I'd suggest that anyone who wants a
Read more

Reminder Symptoms

I can't believe I will celebrate a birthday soon and mark more than 10 years of Recovery training as well in just a few days. When I came into Recovery in June 1999 I was overweight, chronically depressed, anxious and irritable. Each day, I took several medications for these and other nervous symptoms. I didn't think life had anything good in store for me and each day passed in a bland sort of misery. In the last 10 years, my life has improved in untold ways, mainly because of what I've learned in all those Recovery meetings I've attended plus the Recovery books and from the wisdom of the veteran members, those I've met and those from the early days of RI. And most of my days now are almost symptom free, or if I have symptoms, I spot on them and they're gone. Sometimes, though, they hang on and right now is one of those times. I'm going through some unusual events, which probably accounts for their tenacity. In RI, we learn that what's experienced seems
Read more