Keeping the Faith

I have a friend who I get together with once every couple of months for the sole purpose of seeing a girly movie.  You know the type, the cheesy feel-good romantic comedy or emotion-laden drama that we'd probably never subject anyone else to.  The type of movie with a story line that is beyond far-fetched and yet, even though you mentally interject your skepticism at every turn of the plot, you still can't help but smile when the main characters wind up together in the end.   


On Monday we went to see "Just Go With It," the new Adam Sandler movie starring Jennifer Aniston. True to form, the story followed a ridiculous series of ill-fated events with unlikely resolutions and yet sure enough, towards the end of the movie, as the main characters finally come to realize they've actually been in love with one another all along, I found myself smiling as usual.  Only this time something was different... for the first time in a long time I didn't hear the voice in my head telling me that would never happen for me.  

When my last relationship ended I felt like I'd lost my faith.  My faith in people, my faith in relationships, my faith in happy endings.  When you go through something that shakes you like that it can feel devastating and very absolute. It can make you feel like there's no hope for a future that's any different than what you feel in that moment and, if you're not careful, that's exactly the kind of reality you can create for yourself.  The fear of winding up right back in that same spot can be paralyzing.  It can prevent you from taking the risks or chances that might open up an opportunity to change that future for yourself.

After a couple weeks of feeling not so great I am finally coming around to feeling like myself again, only an even better version.  This week P and I spent a little more time talking about my 'setback' (though P didn't particularly like that choice of words) and how it's part of the process, not just of therapy but really part of the process of life as well.  There are always going to be times when I don't feel great or various things or events that may throw me for a loop.  Building confidence in myself and building secure relationships certainly will help me get through the difficult times but I think perhaps equally important is simply having faith to trust in the process.   So instead of feeling annoyed by or trying to brush aside my self-described setback I embrace it because I realize that having experienced that tough time will provide me with more confidence in the future that, not only can I get through the hard times, but I am capable of bouncing back.

So I'm learning to trust the process but perhaps most importantly I'm beginning to have faith again, faith that my future can have a happier ending than the one I'd written for myself - if I'm willing to take the chances.  And on that note, I almost walked up and started talking to a cute guy I saw shopping at Target yesterday (I know, I said 'almost' but it's still a huge step for me!) I know that my fear is an obstacle that I'll need to overcome but I feel like if I can conquer that then I can conquer almost anything.  

-k

Writer's Block

I'm often questioned about my creative process… Ok, I'm never asked this.  I'm not a professional writer by any stretch of the imagination.  For my writing I rely on a little luck, a whole lot of coffee, and my overall general appeal  (let's face it - people get me).  Whatever the magical blending of conditions, I am generally able to just sit down, begin typing and somehow watch my thoughts from the week materialize onto the computer screen in front of me in a (mostly) coherent matter.  


My desire to share my process of therapy has thus far given me inspiration enough to grab onto some of the ideas I have floating around in my head, pair those with the concepts I'm learning, throw in a few jaunty lines and turn it into a somewhat presentable blog post.   But this past week whenever I  tried to sit down and write nothing came.  No ideas buzzing around in my head.  No clever quips.  No excitement.  Nothing.  My computer screen remained blank, the blinking cursor on an empty page taunting me like a flickering neon sign that read "BLAH'.  

The truth is I had nothing to say.  The process of therapy can be exciting when you're learning about yourself, challenging your 'old' self with new ideas, encouraging yourself to take risks and having them pay off and seeing progress.  But what about when you find yourself stuck at a plateau?  Or worse, what about when, despite all your efforts, you find yourself not feeling good at all?  

Fresh from my recent vacation and having had a mostly fun and relaxing time I had hoped that things were looking up, still I couldn't escape a lingering feeling of sadness.  I looked to my session with P last week to wipe away all of the bleakness I was feeling.  I was hoping to have some kind of magical revelation that would help turn everything around.  That never happened.  We started off the session by talking about my trip.  I told P how I'd had a good time and reviewed some of the specific points where I felt I'd made progress.  Yet even as I described my so-called 'progress' I still wasn't buying it.  


Six months into my therapy now P wanted to review some of the initial goals we'd set when I first started coming to see her.  She read to me from a questionnaire I had filled out during one of our first sessions.  I'm certain that P's intention was that by revisiting my initial session and some of the thoughts and emotions I'd had circling my mind at that time that I would be able to recognize how much progress I'd made.  Instead I was only reminded of how far I hadn't come.  I left feeling less accomplished than ever, wondering when, if ever, I was going to start feeling good again.

Earlier in the week, while still in Miami, my sister and I had been laying on the beach relaxing.  We made small talk, with the sun on our backs, absentmindedly running our hands through the sand and looking at seashells.  My sister brought up the idea of hermit crabs and how it seems so odd that they evolved to carry an entire shell on their back and yet at some point as they grow they are forced to leave that shell to find another and it would seem that finding the perfect fit would be a one in a million shot.  Pondering that thought, she posed the question, "what if that just doesn't work out for the crab in the real world?"  


At the time I was kind of struck by that notion but I didn't know why.  I realized later that I totally get that crab, in fact I am that crab, wandering the vast ocean, vulnerable to changing tides, desperately seeking shelter and wondering whether I'll ever find my home, my place where I feel happy, safe and secure?

I think maybe I have been looking for the process of therapy to provide me with that security and feeling some of the same negative thoughts and sense of hopelessness I'd first experienced before starting therapy was disheartening, especially at this stage.  I think that played a big role in my not being able to recognize or feel happy about the progress I'd made thus far.  If after six months of therapy I could still find myself struggling with the same old issues, how then, I reasoned, could I be making any progress?  


The difficult thing with therapy is that it's an ongoing process and while you often can recognize the results, they aren't really measurable at least not by any concrete standards.  After talking with P it seems that perhaps feeling more vulnerable in general pushed me back into some of those same old patterns because they resonated with the negative feelings I was having.   Feeling scared, I'd tried to retreat back into my old shell and I'd sulked there awhile only to realize that it didn't fit me any more. 


Therapy isn't easy.  It takes effort to look deep inside and discover things about yourself that you may not want to face and sometimes it can feel overwhelming.   However, I think it's the desire to change and to find better circumstances that will keep me forging ahead.  True, at times it may seem like a one in a million shot, but I think it's worth the risk to find my perfect fit.


-k

Weathering the Storm

I spent much of the past week in a haze.  I had what could be described as a bad week.  The kind of week flooded with an unfortunate cascade of events where one bad turn seems to beget another.  I've had weeks like this before but this one was a doozy.  Between drama at work, a series of sad cases (at my job I deal with life and death) and other events not going the way I had hoped or planned, there were many points where I could have gotten caught up in the whirlpool of emotions I felt bubbling at the surface. 


Fresh off of a few weeks of feeling some really great progress from therapy I was aware that I could be due for a less exciting week.  And with a few important and potentially stressful events on the horizon (my trip to Miami, my 30th birthday) I already knew that any wayward situations I encountered would need to be approached with caution.  Towards the beginning of the week, even though I could sense the current of emotion, I was still able to keep my head above water and not be swept away by the undertow.   I continued to bob along, maintaining a neutral stance as I watched the debris float by.  By the end of the week, culminating with a particularly sad case at work, I could finally feel the waves rising around me. I was going under.


When it came time for my session with P I don't even think she had to ask me how my week had been; it was written all over my face.  I was tearful as I talked to her about feeling discouraged and the realization that I had been making all of this progress and now to have a week like this felt like a failure.  I questioned whether therapy could help me, whether I was capable of creating change for myself.  I was disheartened that, after having experienced feeling so content and confident, here I was back at square one.


P pointed out that not only had I been making great strides with my personal goals but that these feelings of self-doubt are normal.  We also talked about how when you're feeling really good these periods of negative emotion can often feel much more intense in contrast.  (Although P reassured me that this does get better with time).  I think I realize now more than ever that this process isn't easy and it really takes strength and courage to persevere and bring about positive change for yourself, especially during the times of self-doubt.


Interestingly, none of the so-called bad events of my week was likely responsible for my mood.  Taken at a glance, I've certainly had weeks just like this, or probably much worse, where I didn't feel nearly as bad.  For whatever reason, or combination of reasons (a miscommunication with my therapist, starting to become more open about therapy, the stress of an upcoming trip, a string of sad cases at work), I was left in a vulnerable state and I began to doubt myself which clouded my vision, kind of like opening your eyes under water.  In retrospect I am now able to see a little more clearly some of the triggers behind these intense emotions.  (Only when I'm in the middle of it, it feels more like a hurricane and I'm left to sort out the aftermath).


Looking back (and I only truly came to recognize this after reading through my journal and sitting down to write this post), I realize it was actually a pretty average week.  I see that my negative feelings did tend to ebb and flow throughout the week (quite different from the hurricane I'd imagined) and I did have points at which I continued to make significant progress.  I've certainly experienced a torrent of emotions like this before.  What is different now is that I am able to view it almost from an outsider perspective, a lifeguard on the shore warning myself not to tread here or there because the tide is too high.  I can  notice my emotions or realize that I'm reacting to one event when I'm actually upset about something else entirely.  In some cases this actually allowed me to keep my reactions in check. 


Now as the fog clears heading into my next week and I'm able to once again gain some perspective I'm focusing on relaxing and enjoying my vacation, spending time with family and celebrating my birthday. And as I write this, sitting on a plane flying way above the ocean, I think I'm starting to see the sun again.


-k

I'm No Charlie Sheen..

I had intended to write this week’s post about all of the ways in which we sabotage ourselves through self-defeating behaviors.  This is a theme that had been on my mind as I found myself going about my week.  It was going to be witty and poignant (some would  say groundbreaking).  I had a clever title picked out and everything.  I was looking forward to my therapy session so that I could piece everything together before sitting down to write tonight...

I arrived at my therapist’s office today literally bubbling over with things to talk about.  I couldn’t wait to tell P about all of the progress I had been noticing throughout the week: I had been feeling far more confident and content, making better decisions for myself, I had even finally told my mom that I was going to therapy (something we had talked about in previous sessions and that I had been wanting to do for awhile).  As I started to tell her about my week I kept focusing on this idea of self-sabotage (like any good writer doing research on her subject) and giving her examples of how I felt I had demonstrated these so-called sabotaging behaviors.  


I told her about all of the little things I did that I felt were causing me to get in my own way.   How I never seemed to be able to find where I’d parked my car at the mall for example, and I felt I had been ‘sabotaging’ myself by not even paying attention to where I’d left it in the first place, or how in the past I may have bought clothes I didn’t really like or that were ill-fitting and I wondered if this played into feelings of a negative self image.  I even used the example of celebrities in the media constantly causing trouble for themselves, falling in and out of rehab, to try to shed some light on my point.  

That’s when I began to feel like P and I weren’t really on the same page.  First, her definition of self-sabotage was different than what I’d had in mind (for the record, self-sabotaging behaviors tend to have detrimental effects on a person’s life or relationships while self-defeating behaviors are generally much more benign), and she also suggested a different potential cause for the reason behind some of my behaviors (was it perhaps my anxiety surrounding an idea I had of myself that was clouding my reasoning during some of these times rather than my subconscious setting me up?)  I slowly felt my balloon deflating as I kissed this week’s blog post (and my future Pulitzer...) goodbye.  Moreover I started to feel a little more doubtful about some of the progress I had been making and the value I had placed on it.

Feeling a little troubled that evening and in need of a new blog topic stat I decided to take my dogs for a walk to clear my head and hopefully generate some ideas.  I mentally reviewed my arsenal of potential themes, thinking back to previous weeks in therapy, and I silently lamented about today’s session not going the way I had planned.  That's when a thought occurred to me...had I let my blog dictate today’s therapy session?

As I considered this notion, I realized there were several important topics from my week that I hadn’t even had the chance to talk to P about: The great strides I was continuing to make at work, the fact that over the weekend I’d had one of the most fun and enjoyable evenings with my family that I can remember in a long time, my feelings surrounding my upcoming trip to Miami (granted there is only so much ground one can cover in a 50 minute session but still..)  I had let my focus on the idea of self-sabotage in a sense sabotage (or at least take over) my therapy session.  

I had talked to P about how I hoped my blog wouldn’t take away from my journaling (journaling is an important part of therapy for many reasons which I’ll probably touch upon in the future) but I never thought about how it might affect my actual therapy sessions.  The thing is, I get so excited when I’m feeling the effects of my progress that I want to bottle it up and share it with the world.  That’s one of the main reasons I had behind starting my blog.  I may be trying to approach the idea of therapy in sort of a cook-book manner but I’m not sure there’s anything wrong with that.  Besides I think it’s helpful to try and identify themes and ideas that may help serve as tools that I can use in the future.  That being said, while I intend to continue to use my therapy sessions to help clarify some of these concepts (this being one of more important ways in which I learn), I hope to also remember that the purpose for me being there is to learn about myself and I will try to be conscious to make that my primary goal.

So while I may not know sabotage, here is what I do know: I may have some behaviors that cause me to get in my own way but I rarely, if ever, actually truly sabotage myself and for that I am grateful.  Furthermore, as I go forth in therapy I am not only recognizing ways to sidestep these behaviors but I am also continuing to feel more confident and content in my everyday life and so even if I do get in my own way a little, it really doesn’t bother me as much any more.  And that, my friends, is what they call progress.

-k

When Life Hands You Lemons.. (A reflection on profit shares, 30 Rock and perspective)

I had a bad week.  My work week begins on Wednesday and I often start my long drive into the office daydreaming about how I think the week will pan out (yes I see the danger in this, both literally and from a therapy standpoint).  Will it be a good week or a bad week? Busy or slow?  Interestingly I began this particular Wednesday with little expectation about how the work week would go.  In fact, if I had to look back, I'd say it actually started off pretty good.  

The day was a little slow, which is atypical in my line of work, and presented the perfect opportunity to get caught up on some things I had been planning to get around to.  I spent most of the morning happily organizing my desk and catching up on some personal tasks. Midway through the day my boss called me into his office to talk to me about our company's profit share program which my nearly three years of employment with the company now qualifies me as eligible for.  

Let me just say here that I love my boss but he doesn't exactly have a knack for explaining things in the most organized manner.  Couple that with my relative lack of confidence in my knowledge of financial matters and I left the meeting not only feeling confused, but I was also pretty sure I did not exactly stand to profit from this so-called 'profit' share.  Furthermore, I was feeling somewhat pressured to participate (it seemed like most people were doing it, my not participating with my relative high position in the 'company food chain' might negatively affect those in positions below me, I didn't want my boss to be disappointed if I didn't get involved...was there something I just wasn't getting?). I became annoyed, both with myself and with the situation and it quickly turned my overall good day into a bad one.  

The thing is, lately I'd been feeling fairly happy about my work environment and it came as a surprise and even a disappointment that I was now finding myself flooded with all of these negative feelings about my current situation.  I began to mentally examine different aspects of my job: my salary, my environment, my hours (and I had recently negotiated an extra Saturday a month off) and in all areas it seemed I was coming up short. I found myself feeling stuck and even a little bit swindled as I started to focus on all of the seemingly negative aspects of my current situation.  

The next night, looking for some comic relief from the tension I'd been feeling at work, I tuned into my usual Thursday night lineup: the Office followed by an episode of 30 Rock.  On 30 Rock, Liz Lemon (the quirky and self-defeating main character) sets out to have a one night stand in attempt to get over a recent relationship.  She ends up meeting a stranger at a bar and is pleasantly surprised when they hit it off immediately.  He orders her favorite drink, says all the right things, and as they discover all of the things they have in common the night seems to unfold in an uncanny, perfect manner. It's not until the following day at work when, clear headed and suspicious, Liz gathers her coworkers into a room and upon questioning them one by one comes to the realization that the entire 'perfect' evening was cleverly orchestrated by her employees who wanted to help her get over her relationship.  In the end, she makes peace with the idea that she has caring coworkers and she had her rebound one night stand. Mission accomplished.

Feeling a little more light-hearted (and with my newfound Liz Lemon detective skills at hand) I began to look at things more objectively over the next couple days.  Reviewing my contract (yes it came to that) and comparing my pay to colleagues in a similar position, I realized I actually make out pretty fairly, and isn't there some good or bad about the situation no matter where you work? I may make what is considered to be average pay within my field but I have great coworkers, a caring boss and a work environment that I feel confident and comfortable in.  As I began to focus on more of the positive aspects of my current position I found myself once again feeling more content.  

So it seems that being in a positive or negative state of mind can lead you to focus on only the good or bad aspects of a situation.  Relating this back to my most recent relationship (which was what prompted me to seek therapy in the first place) I couldn't help but wonder: Did I do this with my relationship?  Because a few things seemed perfect (we were childhood friends, shared a common quirky sense of humor) did I try to convince myself that everything about the relationship was perfect when in reality everything has some good and bad? Is it all just a matter of perspective?  

A couple sessions ago P and I had talked about how when integrating information from the outside world we tend to interpret it in order to fall in line with our long held beliefs.  In other words, depending on how you feel about a circumstance, or about yourself, there is a tendency to notice only the aspects of a situation that help support that belief and ignore all other contrary information.  The good news is that with time it's possible to train your mind to zone in on the more positive aspects of your circumstances and even use that positive attitude to change your circumstances for the better.


Through my sessions in therapy I am learning that the foundation for being able to apply this skill lies in simply being in the right frame of mind and having the awareness to be open to different opportunities. I am also beginning to recognize the importance of just being able to sit back and be aware and objective and not be taken in by my emotions and how that can help me to make better decisions for myself.  Knowing what's best for me is actually a sense that I had long felt disconnected from until recently.  Building confidence, not only in myself or my skills at work for example, but also in my ability to be able to integrate these concepts and respond in a novel way from a point of newfound clarity and objectivity is an ongoing part of my therapy process.  

So all this talk about happiness and perspective begs the question: if you can simply alter your perspective and find yourself content in a less than extraordinary situation can you consider yourself to be truly happy? The obvious (and somewhat annoying) answer is: it probably depends on how you look at it.  But I prefer to think of it like this: we have more control over our happiness than we actually realize.  And in the end, if you're happy, then what does it really matter?  (I think Liz Lemon would agree). 

-k

Intro Post

Hello and welcome to my blog.  If we're going to start off on the right foot I feel obligated to confess something...

No one aside from my best friend and my sister (and now you of course) actually knows I'm in therapy. For some reason there seems to be this stigma surrounding the idea of therapy, like it's weak to need to ask for help or it's only for people who have experienced a horrible childhood.  In reality, I'm finding that we all have problems and, perhaps, if we were more upfront and open about them, then we wouldn't feel so alone in our struggles. That's one reason I have for starting this blog: to help people see that everyone struggles and everyone can use some help now and then (and for that, you're welcome). But this isn't an entirely selfless endeavor. I also hope that this blog will help serve as an avenue to chronicle my own progress through therapy and help me put the whole process in order. (You'll find that I like order).

As the title suggests, I'm hoping that by following me through my journey it might have a positive influence on the perspective from which you view your own life and circumstances, so thank you for allowing my process of helping me to also (hopefully) help you.

I was running when the idea to start a blog hit me and instantly a couple of things crossed my mind.  First, I became so excited that I nearly fell off the treadmill (wouldn't be the first time).  Second, I felt a little upset that I hadn't come up with the idea sooner. How cool would it have been to be able to track my progress right from the very start? I went back and forth on whether to start at the beginning and detail my experience through therapy up to this point (a retrospective blog, if you will) or whether to just dive right in from the point in therapy at which I find myself now. One of the things I learned on day one of therapy is that wherever you're at, in this moment, is exactly where you're supposed to be, and is totally fine. So with that in mind, let me begin.

I walked into my therapist's office this afternoon, a now familiar and welcoming place with warm, modern decor, breathed in the usual comforting and recognizable scent that as of yet I have been unable to define and glanced up at the words "hope" and "dream" on the wall.  I settled in to my usual place, an oversized leather chair seated across the room from her.  My therapist, I'll call her P, began today's session as she begins all sessions, by asking me how my previous week had been. Rarely finding myself at a loss for words I immediately began to recount the details of my week. In particular, I had been feeling anxious about whether a coworker's return from maternity leave might upset the current dynamic at work. I had worked myself into a near frenzy coming up with all kinds of theoretical circumstances for the day of her return and things that could go wrong. When it came down to it, none of the situations I was worried about actually played out, and in fact, the day went much more smoothly than I could have even imagined.

Lesson learned: 95% of the things we worry about never actually happen, at least not the way we think that they will. There's little use getting worked up over these made up scenarios and yet we all tend to do it.

Armed with that knowledge, and the realization that I could use it to help prevent future potentially stressful situations, I gained a newfound level of confidence at work. Not only that, but I found that my confidence from work had a ripple effect that continued to play out in other aspects of my life over the next couple days. (Spoiler alert: the opposite can happen too!)

We also talked a little about how emotions from events can sometimes feel overwhelming, and that often it's not the emotion at all but the belief that you've attached to it that's overwhelming.  An example: I was driving home yesterday, on Valentine's Day (and currently single), reflecting on the previous year when I had spent the day with my boyfriend at the time and I noticed myself feeling a little sad.  In the past that sad emotion might have led me down a path of negative thoughts that would have only left me feeling worse.  Instead, in that particular instance, I was able to recognize the emotion for what it was, accept it, and move on.

Approximately 4 months into therapy and really starting to feel some of the benefits of my progress, I still have what I consider setbacks, times when I'm feeling sad or when negative thoughts creep into my head. The difference now, I'm noticing, is that I'm starting to be able to separate the emotion from some deep seeded belief I once had about myself, or as I explained it to P, I feel the emotion on the surface but it doesn't shake my inner core as easily. I'm also finding myself more content in general, and more accepting of change, not feeling like I have to be so controlling or rigid about situations. 


 I find that I can often recognize or feel the effects of my therapy but can't quite pin down the underlying reason or process.  P explained today that a person's degree of flexibility can be an indirect indicator of how happy they are.   Makes sense.

On a side note, I had a meeting with my accountant yesterday. (Yup, on Valentine's Day).  He asked me how my year had been (from a financial standpoint I presume). But sitting there in that chair across the room from him and being asked that question I found myself in a familiar position and I had to fight the urge to start spilling every single detail of my past year. Instead I was speechless. He just paused and looked at me and said, "Well you look happy so it must have been a good year." And you know what? He's right.

-k