Being aware of the negative

We start here. That seems obvious but for some of us, well, we are clueless. We want something different most often. To live in a different place. To be with a different person. Different job, income, body. Different.

And that is the problem.

The freedom comes from not from something different but from being with what is. This city/town, this person, this body. There is nothing else except the excaping of the mind. When the mind escapes it ruins all possibilities of anything else.

The hard work comes being still with all our doubts and fears. The aha moment comes when we face and spend time with those things that they vanish. We come to the realization that it was all a myth to begin with. We laugh. Change begins to happen.

So, the next time you get that drive to escape don't. Get still with the pain and let go of it when you can laugh. Awareness is enough.

OCD and Neuroplasticity

I like authors who challenge traditional thought especially when it comes to the brain. A few weeks back I picked up the book The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and The Power of Mental Force by Swartz and Begley. The skim turned into taking the book home with me for a one night stand. It ended up being a keeper.

The authors merge their two strengths of science and journalism into a thoughtful and deep read that challenges proponents of traditional exposure and preventative methods. Swartz goes as far as calling standard treatments as "...brutal and harsh."

The book gives alternative coping skills including mindfulness and meditation as well as utilizing MRI scans to educate those that suffer from OCD. Recent research of the brain being able to reprogram gives hope to those that struggle with brain break. This book not only informs but allows Obsessives and Obsessive Compulsives to learn to flow with their brain and retrain it. Good read. Can get it for 5 bucks through amazon's new/used section.

Help my thinking is like a hampster wheel!

I can't type fast enough. I am trying. the words are moving at warp speed and they need a place to land. However, per usual they just bounce off my cranium.

Most days are not so bad. However, the weather is changing (autumn is here) and my sleep is off and my diet is carbohydrate rich and and and. The things I do to myself.

Obsessive thinking patters demand a structured life in order to be dealt with in any sane manner. Journaling, healthy diet, patterned exercise to fit the brain activity, and Cognitive Behavioral Tools are a must unless negative patterns are the goal. Apparently, that has been the goal as of late.

Thus this blog. More for me than you. However, maybe you will find something here that helps.