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

Reading thru the Comments section of a NYTimes article/poll on "Books that Changed my Life" - this one struck me-

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/18/opin ... sContainer


"Frank Herbert's Dune had a large impact on me when I was young. Discovered it in the novel section of my local library and not the Sci-fi section. It's an over 500 pages opus and remains the longest book I've ever read. This passage became my motto: “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” heady stuff for the shy introverted soul I was."

Gotta add to this list....

Words help...

Poetry helps....

Anyone?

I used to be a competitive runner and a quote I read in a magazine once about getting motivation to go on a training run is "I did feels better than I will". These days I use that when it comes to doing my self-care and sticking with my coping skills and strategies.

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope... and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. - Robert Kennedy

Everybody talks about wanting to change things and help and fix, but ultimately all you can do is fix yourself. And that's a lot. Because if you can fix yourself, it has a ripple effect.
Rob Reiner

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples. -Mother Theresa


Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects. -Dalai Lama

Awesome quotes, Brownblob!

I may be showing my age but saw a couple of George Burns quotes that brought a smile to my face.

I honestly think it is better to be a failure at something you love than to be a success at something you hate. -George Burns

At my age, flowers scare me. -George Burns

I'm not sure if this is helpful, but I stumbled across this poem a few days ago and thought it was beautiful.

Bluebird by Charles Bukowski

there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say, stay in there, I’m not going
to let anybody see
you.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I pour whiskey on him and inhale
cigarette smoke
and the whores and the bartenders
and the grocery clerks
never know that
he’s
in there.
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too tough for him,
I say,
stay down, do you want to mess
me up?
you want to screw up the
works?
you want to blow my book sales in
Europe?
there’s a bluebird in my heart that
wants to get out
but I’m too clever, I only let him out
at night sometimes
when everybody’s asleep.
I say, I know that you’re there,
so don’t be
sad.
then I put him back,
but he’s singing a little
in there, I haven’t quite let him
die
and we sleep together like
that
with our
secret pact
and it’s nice enough to
make a man
weep, but I don’t
weep, do
you?

Hello Rivrgirl,

It's been awhile, thanks for posting this. I recognized the name and realized that I'd just watched the movie "Barfly" (with Mickey Rourke and Fayne Dunaway) that was based on his life. Movie was OK, not great, but I want to look up more of his stuff...

SD

From my therapist: "you don't have to meet urgency with urgency."

That is, if someone else is reactive and pumped up/anxious, we don't have to get as reactive as they are. It's okay to stay calm and handle situations in our own way. She said this to me because I was continuing to fall into the trap of getting reactive with the people in my family and some people at work when they would "freak out."

Yes! Try to tell myself that same thing often - "Respond, don't React'.

But it's hard! I think we're emotionally wired to resonate with another's feelings, ......relates to the herd instinct, right?