Severe Depression

[Loc Dog]

No one here, would be scared, but feel empathy. Have my own screwed up family. Think everyone does. At least more f-ed, than happy.

Again, I would like to see a group started, and maybe chat room.

Everyone - BE WELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[HempKat]

You quoted me here! So you are addressing me here but the post clearly does not protean to me at all. This is the confusing part.
This message is clearly directed at DAT and her grow but you never mention her name or posted it to DAT. Confusing

It seems you have a problem with me agreeing with you. Its general considered a compliment. But I can not control the way your feeling at the moment. If you are feeling like you want to express something towards DAT feel free too.

I hope this Message finds you in a positive place

It's only confusing if you want to make it so. Part of the problem here is you're making the assumption that when a person quotes you they are directing what they're saying at you. True many times when people quote someone it is to indicate who they are talking to but sometimes it's to indicate the idea or information they are expanding on. Which is what I was doing.

See in my message to DAT that you agreed with I pointed out that people aren't always as knowledgeable as they might seem and some even will deliberately mislead people. DAT came back and said something along the lines of "yeah I guess I trusted them to be more insightful" meaning the people at the other site. That's when you popped in with Hempkat is right but don't loose faith in people.

This made me wonder if I had inadvertently sent a message of distrust and so I quoted your message as if to say yeah I agree with that and that DAT shouldn't take it to the other extreme and become distrustful. All of this is pretty clear though if you follow the flow of the conversation rather then zero in on one message because you were quoted.

 

[AltarNation]

My B, DAT... haha... check out the book if you can get your hands on it, it is a good read. Even when we have families that sort of understand us there is still a ton of societal pressure to be "out" in every way. It is basically hammered into our heads that we are broken and need to become extroverted in order to be "fixed"... but the entire thing was developed based around control mechanisms that were essentially applied as sales tactics to propel the industrial age. Since then we have become a nation of self-predatory sales-minds that think we need to find external validation when the only validation that ever truly exists for anyone comes from inside themselves...

 

[AltarNation]

It's a shame that there is a stigma against illnesses of the mind, as opposed to illnesses of the body. After all, the mind is part of the body.
This stigma needs to be buried. I though the recent celebrity suicides and "coming out" stories were supposed to combat that. We still have a long way to go.

I agree, it is a shame. Personally, I find that that "everything is one" in a most literal sense when it comes to the concept of mental/physical/spiritual separation. Those are an illusion, in my finding... they are different lenses of looking at the one constant which is "the human experience"... therefore connotations coincide between these perceived "separate" avenues...

Part of what has helped to cement my confidence in this view point is the study of a school of thought known as Natural Hygiene, which is the belief that healing is the natural result of surrender. Another way to say that would be that the body (let's say the creature for the sake of "everything being one") inherently contains the knowledge necessary to heal itself, and the only thing that ever prevents that is resistance, which one can learn to stop applying.

But I digress...

 

[HempKat]

I'm wondering how many who claim to have depression do so because it is a way of explaining the reason why life seems the way it does? Sure there are verified cases of depression caused by chemical imbalances but I think many times people being diagnosed as suffering from depression are depressed because things in their life are depressing. I mean take DAT's description of her family, if every family member of anyone's family was as shallow, obnoxious and self centered as she makes hers sound then that would be depressing. It would also tend to make one think well what's wrong with me? If all my family is this way then there must be something wrong with me that I'm not like them. Then some quack comes along and says, "Oh you're just suffering from a chemical imbalance take these pills and eventually you should feel better". This potentially could make one think "well gee no wonder I feel so isolated, it's because I'm suffering from depression." This false realization might even seem to make things better for a while because now you have something that explains it that you can tell others and they seem to understand. Plus if you take the medicine like they tell you perhaps in time you might even actually become chemically imbalanced and then actually be suffering from depression.

There is still so much we don't understand about the brain and how it works. I think a lot of these so called Doctors handing out mind altering drugs like they're candy really have no clue, they see a certain set of symptoms and they make an assumption and give you some pill. It seems clear that they are just guessing too because they often start with one and if that doesn't work they try another, and another and never seem to factor in how these various drugs might be compounding the issue.

I've had long struggles with depression but there was also a lot of things going wrong in my life at those times too and once I got a handle on what things were bringing me down I strived to fix them and things got better. Now I'm not saying anyone and everyone can pull themselves up by the bootstraps, that's as ignorant a stance as the doctors who think just because someone shows signs of depression they need to take an anti depressant.

For me what I found to be key is to love myself. When you get into a dressed state it's really easy to start beating yourself up and begin thinking you deserve it. You've got to learn how to forgive yourself and forgiveness flows from love so you must love yourself to be able to forgive yourself. Another key I've found is you got to take emotional risks. Sure you can spare your feelings from getting hurt if you don't put them on the line with others but you'll also be missing out on finding someone that will return those feelings in kind.

Life is not always easy and smooth, it might look to us like it is for some but you never truly know what someone's life is like until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Everyone has their own hells to go thru and equal to that is everyone can find their own heavens if they start from loving themselves and work at making things the way they feel they should be while occasionally taking some emotional risks as well.

 

[AltarNation]

For me what I found to be key is to love myself. When you get into a dressed state it's really easy to start beating yourself up and begin thinking you deserve it. You've got to learn how to forgive yourself and forgiveness flows from love so you must love yourself to be able to forgive yourself. Another key I've found is you got to take emotional risks. Sure you can spare your feelings from getting hurt if you don't put them on the line with others but you'll also be missing out on finding someone that will return those feelings in kind.

Life is not always easy and smooth, it might look to us like it is for some but you never truly know what someone's life is like until you've walked a mile in their shoes. Everyone has their own hells to go thru and equal to that is everyone can find their own heavens if they start from loving themselves and work at making things the way they feel they should be while occasionally taking some emotional risks as well.

Well said.

 

[AltarNation]

Personally, I believe that chemical balances are susceptible to suggestion, but that most people have been convinced that they cannot change how they feel and see their reality. Some call that depression and some call that life. It's a matter of how one interprets the very nature of the human condition.

However, I believe in mind over matter in the sense that we can change how we feel. I also see that it is very hard to convince one's self to take that responsibility, and I don't claim to be able to do it all the time. On the contrary, I mostly flail around in between successful short windows of choosing.

Deep consideration and meditation has done a lot for me in understanding myself.. and if one digs deep enough into the nature of reality itself, the underlying phenomena is that we are actually creating our subjective realities with the thoughts we think and the belief structures we choose, and we can choose different thoughts that feel better to literally change the way we feel at any given moment.

To me, depression is a spiritual disease in the sense that it is systemic and cannot be fully resolved without addressing the system-wide burden of being a home to negative thoughtforms.

Again, I don't expect anyone to be receptive to these ideas for the most part, because it implies an inability to lean on cultural crutches that we've created for ourselves.

However... to be clear, I am not saying depression is "easily fixed" or something you "just snap out of..." --for certain, I am not discounting the negative effects of long-term belief patterns that we have ingrained into ourselves heavily.

What I AM doing, is pointing out that depression is one of these long-term belief patterns rather than an absolute truth that we have to live with forever. The key is to realize that we are capable of reprogramming our own minds.

I believe that depression is essentially the result of societal beliefs that we are not capable of this... and the implications of why this would be pushed on us are numerous and obvious, as a people unable to believe in their own power of choice of emotional state is much easier to manipulate than one that can choose their own state.

Anyway... what I really want to convey here is that we are the creators of our own realities in the literal sense that how we perceive our reality to be "colored" (depressing, encouraging, et cetera) is generated by the opinions we have about it and ourselves.

And again... let me say that I am not discounting the threat of the depression trap... we are POWERFULLY susceptible to influence, especially during childhood when we are forming ideas about how the world works. The belief in depression as a damning constant does not serve anyone.

The key is to realize that we can choose our own thoughts and beliefs, which dictate our directly perceived reality. And as for why the beliefs are defined otherwise already despite our preferences, we must realize that when we do not know we can choose our own thoughts and beliefs (or deny the responsibility thereto) then those thoughts and beliefs will be generated for us by outside forces.

"Brainwash yourself, before somebody nasty beats you to it." -Rob Brezsny, World Entertainment War

Unfortunately, someone nasty already beat us all to it, and now we have to deprogram almost as much as reprogram, which makes the whole thing very daunting and pushes it into a realm where it's easy to dismiss the possibility of conquering the defined programming and choosing for ourselves.

It is my belief, that depression is essentially whether or not a person is emotionally or subconsciously aware that this is not "right"... that we should be in control but are not. It is a subconscious hinting from the part of ourselves that we have blocked, and it will not go away until it stimulates a high enough state of awareness to realize that we literally have to choose a better thought and feeling or be stuck in the ones we have.

...

I tried to word all that in a way that won't push buttons. I'm really not trying to provoke anybody into a discussion about the legitimacy of these ideas, I just wanted to share the conclusions I've reached after 16 years of manic depression in hopes that it might help someone else.

I simply encourage everyone to stretch past the ideas that others have suggested for the way your reality has to work.

Through various forms of practice, I have slowly been working on reprogramming my mind, and I see direct experiential evidence of progress, even though I still have huge dark periods where I cannot remember that I am in the throws of this process.

In my experience, yoga is one of the most powerful tools for reprogramming thoughts because it is very difficult to ignore the thoughts that do come up during it... as soon as we are being pelted by ideas like "i'm too tired for this" and "I'll never keep this up long enough to make a difference" we are already being presented with the most rudimentary examples of opportunities to reprogram.

Also... I think that most people think of repgoramming as a rather abstract concept that they can't grasp... I did for years, until I realized that it is literally as simple as thinking something. Every time you think something, you are programming yourself.

The key to recognizing the opportunities for new thoughts is in acknowledgement of the bad ones. When one finds a compulsive bad thought in mind, we can actually take that as the moment to stop and reconsider... maybe we don't mean that after all.. maybe we want to think and feel something better about that given subject... and it becomes as simple as "thinking the good thing instead" and then letting go, moving on. (The letting go process is easily facilitated by re-engaging the yogic process itself by focusing on the breath, or focusing on the act of relaxation of the physical body.)


...

Anyway. Again, I'm not discounting anyone's experience. I recognize that the struggle is real. However, I have found that it only has to be real for me until I choose something else. When we surrender instead of struggling, then surrender is real. And so is the resultant peace.

I realize that some may say that this means I do not actually suffer from depression... that what they experience is a "more real" form of depression than what I have experienced. All I can really tell you is that my father is clinically depressed and he comes from a family wherein almost every person is either angry, abusive, or self-medicating with alcohol or drugs. EVERYONE in my life told me that I was trapped in this... that it is chemically-dictated and that I can't fix it myself. It was a personal choice on my part to believe in what I felt on the subject personally, instead of believing in what was being told to me. To this day I struggle to maintain my beliefs in the face of fear-based oppositions that try to tell me I'm perpetually doomed EVEN THOUGH I can see PLENTY of evidence of progress made. So take that for what it's worth I guess.

In a really far reaching sense I see depression as the direct logical response to a world so wrought with the imbalances I described above. We live in a society that demonizes certain personality types. I see "depression", as a label, as a means of demonizing, rather than an objective truth.

One more quote I like...

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they are yours." -Wayne Dyer.

...

Hope some of this was useful to someone out there. Peace and love to you all.

 

[AltarNation]

P.S. All of the above, taking responsibility for the fact that I CAN feel good about myself and my world, that is definitely self love. And it is denying one's self love to deny the possibility of choosing to love one's self... I truly believe we really are in that much control...

 

[Loc Dog]

P.S. All of the above, taking responsibility for the fact that I CAN feel good about myself and my world, that is definitely self love. And it is denying one's self love to deny the possibility of choosing to love one's self... I truly believe we really are in that much control...

You need to get up to 50 posts, so you can chat directly, offline. I prefer working with people one on one. Are there other threads you participate in???

 

[AltarNation]

You need to get up to 50 posts, so you can chat directly, offline. I prefer working with people one on one. Are there other threads you participate in???

I just joined... if this place continues to stimulate, gimme a few days and I'll get to 50, haha.

I too enjoy one on one, usually much more effective for me in most avenues.

Re: other threads - I have been poking around the Toker's Den tonight and stickin my nose in, but otherwise I am new to these forums and was lurking until this thread.

 

[AltarNation]

Actually now that I look at my join date... I guess I joined almost two years ago, lol. I think it was just to look at some pics in a post I found via google search for plant help. But I've always heard good things about the crew here so I wanted to come check it out. I was pretty comfortable at my old haunt and usually just like to stick to one place at a time so I can get to know the userbase, so I sorta waited until that place petered out on good folk before coming over.

 

[Loc Dog]

I just joined... if this place continues to stimulate, gimme a few days and I'll get to 50, haha.

I too enjoy one on one, usually much more effective for me in most avenues.

Re: other threads - I have been poking around the Toker's Den tonight and stickin my nose in, but otherwise I am new to these forums and was lurking until this thread.

This place is very therapeutic!!!! People go out of there way, to help those here.

It helps if you like bud, or just growing anything. I smoke and drink less, when engaged with awesome people, or working on projects.

Drinking and smoking, ususally come from boredom, for me.

 

[DAT]

wow ... fukin tense ya'll< what insight! I love it!!
just took a nice uplifting bong hit of my morning medication, Fruity Pebble OG.lol
and feeling really good.
im moving my babys and transplanting them. I got some serious fire in line... 9 lb hammer, Fireball and Blue pit.
Yall have a fantastic day! take care and stay HIGH!!!

 

[AltarNation]

This place is very therapeutic!!!! People go out of there way, to help those here.

It helps if you like bud, or just growing anything. I smoke and drink less, when engaged with awesome people, or working on projects.

Drinking and smoking, ususally come from boredom, for me.

Me too brother, I hear you on that. Boredom is a beast of sorts. It's good to be comfortable with doing nothing, but it's hard to cultivate sometimes. I always fall back to it eventually and give up and surrender to the boredom and just trance out for a while. Though lately I have been so tired by the time I give in that I just go to sleep instead. Having a bit of an insomnia of sorts... probably somewhat a conditioned response as I am running out of the green and am definitely out of the indicas that help me sleep.

Anyhoo. It's all good. I had a real good night last night staying up posting on here and reading conspiracy theories on the ebola scare, and the georgia guidestones... fascinating stuff...


Anyway... yeah... it's cool to see that this is a pretty supportive forum. I really like to grow. I consume bud because it helps to keep me more base line and less manic-depressive if I can get on a steady usage schedule without pushing my tolerance too far. Right now I've pushed it a little too far as I ran out of everything except for my weakest bud and have been slowly watching that dwindle while I wait for harvest...

 

[AltarNation]

wow ... fukin tense ya'll< what insight! I love it!!
just took a nice uplifting bong hit of my morning medication, Fruity Pebble OG.lol
and feeling really good.
im moving my babys and transplanting them. I got some serious fire in line... 9 lb hammer, Fireball and Blue pit.
Yall have a fantastic day! take care and stay HIGH!!!

Pretty plants and terrifying mask DAT

Sounds beautiful... I am soooo close to my C99 harvest. Like, they will get chopped within 4 days max.

I am also running Diesel, a northern lights hybrid, and Casey Jones x Green Manalishi for the first time... that CJxGM smells awesome... still be a while til harvest on that though.

For me, caring for plants (and animals... and now children I guess!) is one of the only things that gives me a feeling of validation amongst a lot of societal shaming that I often feel for being how I am. I am getting pretty darn good at it, and it's really nice to be good at SOMETHING.

I am an artist type, mostly music... I write simple songs for guitar and vocals... but find that no one cares to listen to songs that aren't studio produced anymore. Hard to keep going when there's so little feedback. Not to mention, being rather socially anxious, and living in a remote area, I am not getting the kind of exposure I would need in real life to draw any ears either...

So... well... raising plants has become a sort of back up art form... it is easy to do, as it is such a classically motivated act that it doesn't seem like art at all but just care... yet it is art in it's own way.

I also really appreciate that the pot community is so supportive of growing. I know that's kind of a given... but just the positive feedback I get every time I post bud pics is really uplifting.. just to know that people follow along with what you do and see it as interesting is HUGELY gratifying... and I can't seem to attain that in any other avenue besides growing, so I am really grateful for my fellow growers and pot heads with genuine appreciation and love.

Thanks y'all.

 

[MedScientist]

Personally, I believe that chemical balances are susceptible to suggestion, but that most people have been convinced that they cannot change how they feel and see their reality. Some call that depression and some call that life. It's a matter of how one interprets the very nature of the human condition.

However, I believe in mind over matter in the sense that we can change how we feel. I also see that it is very hard to convince one's self to take that responsibility, and I don't claim to be able to do it all the time. On the contrary, I mostly flail around in between successful short windows of choosing.

Deep consideration and meditation has done a lot for me in understanding myself.. and if one digs deep enough into the nature of reality itself, the underlying phenomena is that we are actually creating our subjective realities with the thoughts we think and the belief structures we choose, and we can choose different thoughts that feel better to literally change the way we feel at any given moment.

To me, depression is a spiritual disease in the sense that it is systemic and cannot be fully resolved without addressing the system-wide burden of being a home to negative thoughtforms.

Again, I don't expect anyone to be receptive to these ideas for the most part, because it implies an inability to lean on cultural crutches that we've created for ourselves.

However... to be clear, I am not saying depression is "easily fixed" or something you "just snap out of..." --for certain, I am not discounting the negative effects of long-term belief patterns that we have ingrained into ourselves heavily.

What I AM doing, is pointing out that depression is one of these long-term belief patterns rather than an absolute truth that we have to live with forever. The key is to realize that we are capable of reprogramming our own minds.

I believe that depression is essentially the result of societal beliefs that we are not capable of this... and the implications of why this would be pushed on us are numerous and obvious, as a people unable to believe in their own power of choice of emotional state is much easier to manipulate than one that can choose their own state.

Anyway... what I really want to convey here is that we are the creators of our own realities in the literal sense that how we perceive our reality to be "colored" (depressing, encouraging, et cetera) is generated by the opinions we have about it and ourselves.

And again... let me say that I am not discounting the threat of the depression trap... we are POWERFULLY susceptible to influence, especially during childhood when we are forming ideas about how the world works. The belief in depression as a damning constant does not serve anyone.

The key is to realize that we can choose our own thoughts and beliefs, which dictate our directly perceived reality. And as for why the beliefs are defined otherwise already despite our preferences, we must realize that when we do not know we can choose our own thoughts and beliefs (or deny the responsibility thereto) then those thoughts and beliefs will be generated for us by outside forces.

"Brainwash yourself, before somebody nasty beats you to it." -Rob Brezsny, World Entertainment War

Unfortunately, someone nasty already beat us all to it, and now we have to deprogram almost as much as reprogram, which makes the whole thing very daunting and pushes it into a realm where it's easy to dismiss the possibility of conquering the defined programming and choosing for ourselves.

It is my belief, that depression is essentially whether or not a person is emotionally or subconsciously aware that this is not "right"... that we should be in control but are not. It is a subconscious hinting from the part of ourselves that we have blocked, and it will not go away until it stimulates a high enough state of awareness to realize that we literally have to choose a better thought and feeling or be stuck in the ones we have.

...

I tried to word all that in a way that won't push buttons. I'm really not trying to provoke anybody into a discussion about the legitimacy of these ideas, I just wanted to share the conclusions I've reached after 16 years of manic depression in hopes that it might help someone else.

I simply encourage everyone to stretch past the ideas that others have suggested for the way your reality has to work.

Through various forms of practice, I have slowly been working on reprogramming my mind, and I see direct experiential evidence of progress, even though I still have huge dark periods where I cannot remember that I am in the throws of this process.

In my experience, yoga is one of the most powerful tools for reprogramming thoughts because it is very difficult to ignore the thoughts that do come up during it... as soon as we are being pelted by ideas like "i'm too tired for this" and "I'll never keep this up long enough to make a difference" we are already being presented with the most rudimentary examples of opportunities to reprogram.

Also... I think that most people think of repgoramming as a rather abstract concept that they can't grasp... I did for years, until I realized that it is literally as simple as thinking something. Every time you think something, you are programming yourself.

The key to recognizing the opportunities for new thoughts is in acknowledgement of the bad ones. When one finds a compulsive bad thought in mind, we can actually take that as the moment to stop and reconsider... maybe we don't mean that after all.. maybe we want to think and feel something better about that given subject... and it becomes as simple as "thinking the good thing instead" and then letting go, moving on. (The letting go process is easily facilitated by re-engaging the yogic process itself by focusing on the breath, or focusing on the act of relaxation of the physical body.)


...

Anyway. Again, I'm not discounting anyone's experience. I recognize that the struggle is real. However, I have found that it only has to be real for me until I choose something else. When we surrender instead of struggling, then surrender is real. And so is the resultant peace.

I realize that some may say that this means I do not actually suffer from depression... that what they experience is a "more real" form of depression than what I have experienced. All I can really tell you is that my father is clinically depressed and he comes from a family wherein almost every person is either angry, abusive, or self-medicating with alcohol or drugs. EVERYONE in my life told me that I was trapped in this... that it is chemically-dictated and that I can't fix it myself. It was a personal choice on my part to believe in what I felt on the subject personally, instead of believing in what was being told to me. To this day I struggle to maintain my beliefs in the face of fear-based oppositions that try to tell me I'm perpetually doomed EVEN THOUGH I can see PLENTY of evidence of progress made. So take that for what it's worth I guess.

In a really far reaching sense I see depression as the direct logical response to a world so wrought with the imbalances I described above. We live in a society that demonizes certain personality types. I see "depression", as a label, as a means of demonizing, rather than an objective truth.

One more quote I like...

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they are yours." -Wayne Dyer.

...

Hope some of this was useful to someone out there. Peace and love to you all.

Awesome post AltarNation! I have come to the same conclusion, and have pulled Myself up by MY BootStraps! I No Longer Believe Depression is SOMETHING we can have or catch, but more of a Mental Conditioning HABIT that WE Create by What and How we ALLOW ourselves to Think. Negative Emotions and Critical Thinking are HABITS that we CAN change by changing our Mind.

What I did... everytime a Negative or Critical Thought came to Mind, I would say to myself... "I recognize this thought as part of my Depressing Thought Habit, and from NOW ON, I CHOOSE to think about Happy/Peaceful things... like..." then Think of something Loving/Peaceful! If you dont have POWERFUL Loving/Peaceful memories, then make one up! Add winning Lotto to it or whatever brings GOOD FEELINGS.

I found after a while, I started having Good thoughts Pop-in to my head, and not so many Negative ones. Its as-if the SubConscious mind starts to recognize that you are going to nullify the Negative thought and Think Better, so it CREATES a Habit of bringing you Better thoughts.

I know it sounds silly, but hey, it worked for ME! Why not try it?

 

[SirSteely]

Poverty stricken and strict southern christian upbringing made me a young rebel. Then I spent 20 years reveling in hard drug use. 1000+ doses of lsd, 1000x shrooming, 1000s of valuim and xanax, a couple pounds of cocaine, bouts of heroin addiction, rehabed at 14 for opium addiction, gallon upon gallon of alcohol, and endless reefer, etc etc... I hated sobriety early in life. That shit caught up to me. At 28 sentenced to 146 years in FL doc(Concurrent) which I did 10 years 3 months and 26 days for stealing shit to buy drugs. I destroyed a family-wife and 2 kids were dysfunctional after that and disintegrated into a mess as I watched from my prison cell through letters and calls. Powerless over anything at all in my life for a long time. Deep depression set in, and stayed. Only my thoughts were my own. I stepped out into a new world in Oct 2009 with $400 and a set of clothes. My wife left long ago for a man that was free. My kids hated me and still do. I had only my desire to live free.......
Its been 5 years now. I have the best woman, my dog is awesome, my garden is dank, im legal, i dont have to work, my days are free. But I found myself stuck. Unable to really live my life, not happy when I should be. NO friends really but I blamed my garden for that ..Im alive IM free! but always so sad inside. always thinking about what I did, who i hurt and what if? i would of done it better or right.
The depression that set in in prison had taken over.

I had to just let it all go. LET IT FUCKING GO!! All that shit that I did that was making me hate myself was in the past. Say thank you to all the people you hurt, to all pain , to all the despair, Thank you for pushing me to a place of freedom. Your free now to get up go outside and start fresh. Pic up an old childhood hobby like fishing or kite flying, not break dancing though, and just start over. And when you fill your days with actively thanking the past for todays opportunites youll find the past easier to live with and can focus on today. depression sucks but its beatable. Peace

 

[Ph-patrol]

It's only confusing if you want to make it so. Part of the problem here is you're making the assumption that when a person quotes you they are directing what they're saying at you. True many times when people quote someone it is to indicate who they are talking to but sometimes it's to indicate the idea or information they are expanding on. Which is what I was doing.

See in my message to DAT that you agreed with I pointed out that people aren't always as knowledgeable as they might seem and some even will deliberately mislead people. DAT came back and said something along the lines of "yeah I guess I trusted them to be more insightful" meaning the people at the other site. That's when you popped in with Hempkat is right but don't loose faith in people.

This made me wonder if I had inadvertently sent a message of distrust and so I quoted your message as if to say yeah I agree with that and that DAT shouldn't take it to the other extreme and become distrustful. All of this is pretty clear though if you follow the flow of the conversation rather then zero in on one message because you were quoted.

Hempkat if you quote some you are speaking to them. There is no way around that. I feel you have pleaded your case to me and I find that you could have sent your message straight towards Dat. Simply by quoting her and leave me out of it,because you were speaking to ONLY HER. You never spoke to me. But any one reading that text will assume you are speaking to me. That would give a false impression and that is a bit deceptive left as is.

Next thing is you could have quoted/spoken to me and let me know how you were feeling. I would have quickly eased your mind and let you know that I did not find your post towards DAT Harsh or un-nurturing. I would not have Agreed with you if I thought you gave fowl advice.
Simple scenario say you tell little Jon there is no such thing as Santa and I say your right , but dont loose the Xmas spirit.

You could remove your text towards me and I would remove me agreeing with you. Unless you have no good intention in this situation

 

[AltarNation]

Thanks MedScientist. Your method sounds pretty similar to mine... I guess I approach it really technically because I come from a technical background and played with computers a lot throughout my development. So I like to just think of the brain as a computer, which is basically is anyway. It's a biological computer, but a computer none the less... so in order to take some of the anxiety and stress of self-work away, I like to approach it as if I'm simply interacting with a computer... when I "accidentally type the wrong thing" by having negative thoughts, it hits a sort of flag that draws my attention to the fact that I was the one "who was typing in the first place" so to speak. So then I acknowledge I have the power to choose something better, and I sort of go, "Ahh, back up, delete that. Instead, this:" and then I replace it with a positive affirmation on the same subject.

It is easiest to take small steps. So if you can't fathom how there could even BE an "upside" to whatever subject you found yourself negatively criticizing, it's important to recognize that you are pushing yourself to reach too far... take a smaller step... instead of going from "I feel worthless and no one cares" to "I am the best and everyone loves me" (which will immediately trigger reactions of hostility from the ego due to the extreme contrast you're trying to push and how fake the new truth seems by contrast) ... INSTEAD, we can sort of gradient our thoughts in a pattern that works from one color to another.

So instead of going RED, GREEN (very hard) We can go RED, REDDISH-PURPLE, PURPLE, PURPLISH-BLUE, BLUE, BLUEISH-GREEN, GREEN. Where RED is anger, and GREEN is, let's say, love for the world. You can't get there in one step (unless you're in a very high awareness state) and if you try you will set off your own defensive mechanisms and stop the process.

We still end up at green eventually. But in the process we have avoided the automatic reactions and negative thought forms that are associated with the truth-finding aspects of the critical thinking mind, which has at this point back fired on us and is attacking us instead of forming constructive thoughts.

 

[AltarNation]

In the long run we are not dealing with the specific events that cause us to react, but are instead dealing with our overall ability to temper and shape our minds at will. We are dealing with our overall tendency to respond in a given way. In this sense, we are talking about a chronic condition, because the events are triggers rather than specific matters of concern. They usually manifest as "the last straw" on a pile of similar patterns that are hard to articulate. In this sense we see that what's being addressed is not our specific response or opinion on a given thing/situation, but is instead an address of the entirety of the psyche and it's tendency to lean towards negative interpretation.