Thought this might be handy for people who are really suffering right now. With me, I try reminding myself that my sadness stems from the stories I have created from certain experiences. They were horrific experiences but they happened and that’s it. It’s only when we start picking at them, over thinking and coming up with conclusions that we get overwhelmed by sadness. Strip down and keep it simple. They happened, that’s it. Remove all the stories that you feel you can’t control in order to write some that you can.
Please write down what works for you. Maybe we can create our own little playbook to help when sadness takes over again
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Don’t beat yourself up over things you have/had no control over. You can sometimes have an influence on another person, but realize you have no control. Control of others and of life, is an illusion that causes too much unnecessary suffering. Focus on what you can control (mostly, just your inner state). Your girlfriend can leave you at any time, your boss can fire you at any time, with absolutely nothing you can do to prevent it (remember – influence, not control).
Realize that knowing you have no control, and the resulting surrender to what is, can actually be very positive and powerful. It’s not a bad thing. It only appears to be, on the surface.
We all make the best decision possible, at any given time, with whatever information is available at that time. No one says, “Ok, this time, let me make a bad decision.” So, there is no such thing as a mistake, which also means that regret is irrational … and a waste of time and energy.
I like this. I blame and punish myself a lot but haven’t looked at it in this light before. Thank you
😉
Woof! This is a hard one. There are so many coping strategies I use that seem to only work for one day.
Like Ein said above, stopping the self beating in its tracks helps.
Y’all are gonna laugh, but one sure fire way to shrug off depression is to be chased by a lion. Not so good for PTSD, though.
Will a bear work as an adequate substitute? Ran into a mama bear while hiking one time.
Yes, of course. Rub your ass with honey like you used to do when you were a kid,
Exercise … daily, if possible … vigorously, if possible.
Don’t take what others say to/about you too seriously. And never take it at face value. Sometimes, there may be a shred of truth in it, but nothing anyone ever says is going to be the absolute truth. It is simply a thought blurted out into a sound.
It helps to buffer things that people say, before taking it to heart. Process it … when someone says, “You’re a lazy bum. You will never get better if you just sit on your ass like this.”
Process it … ok, the first sentence is pretty much just garbage (just a label), so you can throw it away. The second sentence might have some truth to it … take that to heart … if you don’t create some change in your life, you may not see improvement.
This way, you don’t immediately take the whole thing to heart and get all emotionally stirred up from the criticism. You process it, absorb it, and then, you smile and say, “Thanks, that’s good advice.”
🙂