The path you are choosing, which is the same path I chose many years ago, is not an easy one but a very worthwhile one. It takes dedication and staying power to walk it, and is worthy of much praise and respect. Here, in this short series of Blogs I’m going to get to grips with some of the real problems I have seen from my own patients who have chosen this same path. I’m going to share with you the difficulties and struggles and most importantly I will teach you how to overcome them.
I could just ignore the fact that it’s not always easy to follow a program such as this even though it might just be the very thing that will help you feel better. No, it can be a challenge and that’s the truth. However if you seriously want to stop feeling depressed, anxious or stressed then learning these precious techniques is the only way to go. Living with difficult symptoms can be distressing and a very lonely place to be, so for your own mental and emotional health, finding ways to help yourself is the best choice you can make. Which do you prefer, to stay depressed, anxious and full of stress, or to free yourself once and for all? I’d say there is no contest.
Here on the site you have the opportunity to change your life and learn some amazing techniques, yet due to the nature of your symptoms, it could also be a struggle sticking to it. Of course I know this because I have been there myself, and also, I watch my own patients struggle with certain aspects of the program, so I know first-hand exactly what the difficulties are and how they can play themselves out.
I also know that you might experience similar difficulties, so instead of sweeping them under the carpet I am going to address them and teach you how to overcome them. This is part of my job, to ensure you have the tools you need, because it isn’t enough to have the CA tools or the CBT tools you also need some tips that will help you complete the program successfully. It will be worth it as you will find out soon.
The first difficulty I experience with my own patients is this: They know they want and need to learn all the techniques because life is misery for them when living with the devastating symptoms of either depression, anxiety or any stress related problem. Yet, it is so easy to be weak and give up because learning takes energy which can be in short supply. You might have a problem with tiredness, concentration or memory, so there is also all that to contend with. This is the nature and the very core of these conditions, they bring with them difficult symptoms that need dealing with, but are difficult to deal with.
On the one hand you are desperate to rid yourself of symptoms that are controlling and ruining your life. On the other and due to the nature of those symptoms it is almost easier to give up on the idea because dealing with it all can be a challenge in itself. You want what the program can offer you, but it demands energy and concentration you don’t have. Does it seem like a rock and a hard place?
What are you supposed to do? You hate living with your symptoms and you have the opportunity to learn HOW to rid yourself of them, yet it feels like too much hard work. My own patients have experienced all of these emotional struggles, so I know. Even though it’s the very thing you want and the very thing you know can help you change your life, you ask yourself: “Can I do it?” Yes you can with the right guidance.
It’s ironic really, it’s almost as if the thing you want to do, the thing that will help you overcome your symptoms and help you lead a better life, you can’t have because they in themselves render you too tired, too depressed, too stressed, unable to concentrate and unable to focus. They have taken over your life in such a way that you almost don’t own it any more. Your life is dictated by something outside your own control.
I imagine, just as with my own patients that you find yourself somewhere on that spectrum where, to some extent your symptoms control you and your own ability to function properly. They, to a greater or lesser extent also influence your decision making because they influence your thinking. Therefore they might also be robbing you of any real choice. Letting your symptoms dictate to you is not a good place to be, so let’s find out how and if you can change all this. As you will find out, you can, by making a few changes within yourself.
In the next Blog we will go through some of the steps you can take in order to overcome the problem of symptoms controlling you. We will slowly and carefully see how you can ensure you are no longer in the trap of wanting what the program can give you, but lacking the motivation. It means putting some simple steps in place and sticking to them.
The first thing before anything else here, is to take your new new challenge, look at it, examine it, and consciously ask yourself: “How can I meet this challenge successfully?” What will I need to do and how can I do it in the best possible way? You then need to sit down and consciously think about your answers.
Once you can answer these questions you are on your way. Why, because by asking these questions and answering them you are already beginning to take back control. You have started to exercise your right to step in and consciously question what you CAN do, rather than simply accepting that the challenge is too big, to exhausting, too difficult and too much. You are now on the right path, even if you don’t know it yet. By asking yourself these few questions you have started on the road to regaining control over your life and it was as simple as asking a few simple questions…. it was that easy!! In the next Blog we will look at answering those questions, because answer them, you must if you want success.
Food for thought? Carole