Stephen Covey the 8th habit

[davidr]

Hello all,

Just wanted to post I am reading Stephen Covey the 8th habit at the moment and finding it very helpful with getting perspective on my anxiety. One piece that has really hit me strongly and that I feel I would like to share is this.

'Between Stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness.'

Those of us who grew up with unconditional love in a supportive environment may have a very large space with which to work, whilst others due to various genetic and environmental factors may have a much smaller space but the point is there is a space. I am working every day to make that space bigger and to consequently reduce my anxiety. I am choosing to widen my space by utilising that space for positive good rather than allowing it to constrict me further.

This board is used by all of us to make our space and the space of others we communicate with bigger. By giving our love and support to everyone we encounter on here not only are we enriching and growing their space but we are also increasing our own.

[Meg]

David , I totally agree with the quote.

I do agree too that for many the environment is important but for others - that 1st ' out of the blue' and second full blown PA's are enough to put all the past however good and strong into the shade and its been likened to being an alien in a completely empty room and being forced to play trivial presuit over and over again without ever having been on earth before - at some point you start to learn the new lingo and remember tips and triggers that may help you in the next session.


Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk
You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[davidr]

Thanks Meg, I agree with that. The quote relates to how we begin the process of recovery once we understand what has happened and is happening to us. As we begin to understand our illness we develop choices and strategies and essentialy our space widens and this is where we find a happier more peaceful existence and brighter future. Irrational fears narrow our space and limit our potential to take charge of what is happening to us.

I think although Covey is not directly addressing anxiety but rather the human condition in general it is a useful method of trying to almost shift paradigms by getting us to think differently about the impact our choices make on our lives. I know my life is changing for the better because I am making choices about the space between stimulus and response. I feel a stronger healthier and more powerful foe to the demon depression and his friend anxiety.

This isn't to say I am free of this I had an anxiety attack in the bookshop this evening, pulse racing, rapid breathing etc but I feel mastering my mind thought process and the space between will bring this illness to a swifter healthier conclusion than by any other method I know of. CBT which is essentialy this, is proving the most effective way of treating anxiety and depression and has less harmful side effects than psychiatric medication. I speak as an ex- Seroxat, Lithium, Prozac and Effexor patient who lost many years of health and much of my 30's to the side effects of these drugs.

[Meg]

Its completely normal to experience blips along the way .

We all have exceedingly agile minds as we're soo used to jumping to extreme conclusions and recalling old uncomfortable memories and if the old way of scaring us doesn't work it jumps to another one but as you say thought control is pivotal.

My chapter 3 is completely devoted to thought processes and how they affect anxiety - it took ages to find examples and techniques that worked fairly consistently.





Meg
www.overcominganxiety.co.uk
You cannot conquer fear until you have learned what it is you're afraid of. The enemy is ignorance. Vivian Vance

[davidr]

Thanks Meg I would be interested to hear how you are coping and the strategies you have found most successful in keeping a lid on your own anxiety. I use 'keeping a lid on' as I always feel that for me personally that is all I am ever doing, controlling the heat beneath a simmering pot.