YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

On the road for business after a stressful couple of weeks

Had a few "medicinal" beers this evening at a local pub while listening to the band, and people watching.

So many lives, so many stories.....
Everyone and everything on the planet is struggling in their own way.
Proverbs says - "Time and chance happen to them all"
Vicissitudes of life...

What makes some of us strive to overcome, and others to give in?
-I've done both -

- Past regrets but also fond reminisces.
- Anxieties for the future, and also hopes.
- Present contentment but also vertigo at so many thoughts & realizations flooding in -

"Oh the dreaming! the dreaming! the torturing, heart-scalding, never satisfying dreaming, dreaming, dreaming, dreaming!"(Shaw)

I cannot imagine everyone's situation or feel everyone's pain, but I *will* lend a sympathetic ear to anyone who posts here...

Everyone has their struggle.
Sadly, I don't have dreams. I merely try to survive in this world I am not made for.
I have many regrets. A bad memory is my best defense.
Unfortunately, I see the future in only negative terms.
I just try to ride today and try not to dwell too much on what is coming down the line.

Well said. Thank you for sharing.

Hello Brownblob,

Yes, "dreams" may be too strong a word. I've always felt somewhat dissociated from the world and "normal" society. Never had a grand plan or a mapped-out life trajectory.

Often wondered if and where I belong, and what kind of drugs people are on to make them so positive.

To look in the mirror I should think I'm a normal and rather fortunate person, but inwardly it's always been a struggle.

That's why I'm here I guess...

And yes, when my anxiety was high and mind was racing a few weeks ago, quite a few more (bad?) Haiku snippets came to mind dealing with all this stuff

With everyone's indulgence, I may post them as a form of self-therapy....

Hey brownblob, just wanted to let you know your post touched my heart. I don't have anything helpful to say other than I hope you keep going and remember to be kind to yourself.
Heather

snoringdog, your post reminds me that one of the things I've gained through my struggles is the ability to hold opposites. Pain can bring joy. Doubt can contain the hope of all possibilites. I can love someone and hate them at the same time. My left side logical brain had to learn how to just let go. Pretty great.
Heather

Yes indeed!

But sometimes holding all those thoughts together makes my head want to explode....

(Anxious rumination versus expansive acceptance)