by sincefour » Thu Feb 09, 2006 4:11 pm
fr34k:
You are not alone. People have felt as bad or worse, and gotten to the other side. That is not an assurance, but a proven possibility.
According to the thinker I find the most meaning in, pain in the human heart is all based on feeling that we are seperate. In your case, and mine there is ample evidence to support that.
So what do we do? As far as I can see two things:
1. stop focusing on yourself. donate time to those more needy, old, deformed. This society designates lots of people as "not us". Cook, clean or serve in a soup kitchen. Guess what? It works. It works because you see that suffering isn't confined to you. It works because you are making contact and not being alone. Help people here.
2. realize that you share much more with the world, plants, animals and people then what your mind says when you are in "critic" mode. The critic will make any difference look like the Grand Canyon. It's not so. When it comes to looking at ourselves in this society I feel that all of us have plenty enough brain trained on the topic, but nowhere near enough compassion.
I am making these statements above based on my experience as not so different from yours, mine are:
child abuse - emotional/physical neglect from infancy, physical, mental, and sexual in and out of the home - causing:
- very frequent SI & DID
- became bipolar at age 14, not diagnosed until age 42 (some evidence says really bad childchood can cause it!)
- a nasty case of PTSD
- a fraudulent adult life based on denial and minimization
- two nervous breakdowns in the past 12 years
- laid off from my highly paid software job 3 weeks ago.
I am able to see with increasing clarity/heart now, and I survey a wreckage of a life.
If I would give up, I could have more then enough to drown in. I am just interested in doing what I can with the time I have left. Feeling sorry for yourself does not help. Taking action as best as you can in the face of sure defeat (natural death, all the people that think I'm an a* h*, my health (10 meds a day, open heart surgery a year ago)) - that takes resolution.
It's a process. The notion of a full cure is just too much for me to believe in. But getting down that line further, yeah, its worth it.
If you like, I would be happy to talk some more - your call.
Either way - good luck, and please try to embrace yourself with compassion. Not just once. It calms the anger for one thing, and doing that makes it easier to see where you are. And knowing where you are it is easier to heal.
W