Miki
Sounds like it all turned out for the better. The easiest thing to do would
have been get your husband and get home to your safe place. As we all
know that would have been a temporary feeling. As it turned out you really
faced it and subsequently you were successful. From working through this
program I have come to realize that if I do the opposite of what I normally
would have done in anxious situations it turns out for the better. To keep doing
what I normally would have done (run away) tends to exascerbate the problem.
On saturday past I was on my way up north to clear some land for which I am going
to build a cabin...This place is quite remote and as I left my family and began the
drive I could feel the negative thoughts poking through. "What if I get attacked by a
bear?, What if I get into a car accident?", What if?????. Within a half an hour I
was really anxious and thought maybe I should turn around. By employing some of
the techniques outlined in session 4, (exposure) I was able to logically put things into
perspective and continued on my journey....
Dazed mommy coined it eloquently when she said, "keep doing what your doing and the
good days will pile up"...It is so true and as the good days become the norm than the
norm becomes the good days with anxious days becoming more of the 'blip' in the system.
So I think your day was very successful. It sounds like you didn't fight it too hard but rather
rolled with it. I think we (myself, formerly) spent too much time making anxiety the enemy
and by giving it that much credence we give it power over us. Just accepting it and not changing your
life gave you a great success....You should be so proud of yourself. Again it proves that other peoples
successes beocme the mirror for my own! So thank you!
By the way never made it up to my land...rain washed out the road! Perhaps mother natures anxiety takes
precedence over my own.
Highway 401 in Toronto on a hot July day and traffic stops dead, now there is an anxous situation. So heat
and congestion of any sort causes a form of claustraphobia!
Good luck and sorry for my much too long response!
Michael
