Know what you want!

November 20, 2006 in General, Quotes and Snippets by Cindy

“Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbor he is making for, no wind is the right wind.”—Marcus Annaeus Seneca, 4 BC - 65 AD, Roman philosopher and moralist.

I saw this quote and thought it really applies to my desire to live a life without debilitating anxiety and panic. If I’m focused on the panic attack or the symptom then that is probably the “harbor” I’m headed for.

And then I wonder why I can’t get better, when I want, so badly, to get better!

But, if my aim is healthy, active living - the life that is out there for me to live - then that’s the “harbor” I’m headed for.

So, maybe I have a better chance of getting there!

Just thought I’d share

5 comments

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November 20, 2006 at 6:56 pm

jonah

Remarkable.

Your post was exactly what I was looking for tonight. I’ve been thinking the exact same thing because I’ve had a bad day. I’ve been kinda sick but I’ve felt that I’ve been acting it up, somehow - telling people (and myself) that it is worse than it actually is.

A part of me is trying to write my illness of as “another symptom of impeding doom” while another part is telling me that it’s nothing. I’m just a bit tired and my stomach is upset. I go from feeling like I should just ignore it to feeling death breathing down my neck. And it’s making me sick, dragging me down and wearing me out. Rollercoster - and I hate rollercosters.

So I’ve been thinking if my Self is identifying too much with the deciese. If my Self is actually interpreting who I am through talking about how bad I feel and how badly I think this or that will hit me or probably kill me. Am I addicted to letting people know how terrible I feel? Do I focus on feeling bad so I feel even worse and thus validate my initial “suspicion” of beeing genuinely sick?

At least it seems that way when I totally ignore that my blood pressure is fine, I don’t have a fever and I can operate smoothly enough to take care of my child…

So - Maybe I need to head for another harbor as well…

November 23, 2006 at 3:15 pm

Leila V.

Nicely put! Visualizing negative outcomes is a major source of my anxiety too. I’m making a conscious effort to change my train of thought,(unfortunately it’s easier said then done).

November 30, 2006 at 4:17 pm

SA D.

I was in a weekly social anxiety support group for months. I asked my friend, who also suffers from SA, if he’d like to come along. He said, no; because he finds SA easier to deal with if he isn’t always fixated on it. His worry is that going to a support group once a week will only cause him to think about it far more often than he does now. Sort of makes sense.

I stopped going to the group last May and I have to admit that I’m not as tuned to the anxious part of my mind as I was when I was going.

Just thought I’d share.

SA D.

January 12, 2007 at 10:07 am

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