guitarpants
14-05-10, 20:43
So one day I was sitting thinking and I drew some interesting parallels to some very old video games late 80's, early 90's. Specifically with acceptance. Some of you may get these references, others not.
Anyone remember the very first Prince of Persia? There was a part where you had to confront a shadow/dark version of yourself. You could fight all you wanted, but you would ALWAYS lose. The only way to pass this portion was not fight and simply run into and become one with your shadow again.
Final Fantasy II, similar situation. At one point you had to confront a dark/mirror version of yourself. Again, as long as you battled you would always lose, OR, the battle would end up going on perpetually. The answer to defeating Dark Cecil was to not fight at all and simply defend or not act at all.
I'm not sure why my mind made these connections, but I wonder if these programmers ever struggled with a problem like anxiety or such. Because really the only way out of this struggle is not to struggle at all. The more you fight, look for explanations, and worry about what is happening to you, the more you are defeating yourself and prolonging your suffering. I know this to be the case with me. I could have started recovering months ago but I fought it tooth and nail because that's the only thing I know how to do, and that is what our instincts tell us to do. That's how we got into fight or flight mode perpetually in the first place. Our minds are temporarily dysfunctional.
This really is the biggest hurdle/obstacle. I mean you really have to do the opposite of what your mind and body is telling you to do. When you're injured, you go get medical treatment, when there is a problem, you look for a solution. Anxiety and panic is one of those things that doesn't have a fix or an answer. It almost seems like the only way to recover is to do little or nothing about it and just go about your life as usual until it subsides. I've even gleaned a bit of this from Claire Weekes' book. I've put myself through hell fighting this thing. In the end by fighting you are only destroying yourself.
Anyone remember the very first Prince of Persia? There was a part where you had to confront a shadow/dark version of yourself. You could fight all you wanted, but you would ALWAYS lose. The only way to pass this portion was not fight and simply run into and become one with your shadow again.
Final Fantasy II, similar situation. At one point you had to confront a dark/mirror version of yourself. Again, as long as you battled you would always lose, OR, the battle would end up going on perpetually. The answer to defeating Dark Cecil was to not fight at all and simply defend or not act at all.
I'm not sure why my mind made these connections, but I wonder if these programmers ever struggled with a problem like anxiety or such. Because really the only way out of this struggle is not to struggle at all. The more you fight, look for explanations, and worry about what is happening to you, the more you are defeating yourself and prolonging your suffering. I know this to be the case with me. I could have started recovering months ago but I fought it tooth and nail because that's the only thing I know how to do, and that is what our instincts tell us to do. That's how we got into fight or flight mode perpetually in the first place. Our minds are temporarily dysfunctional.
This really is the biggest hurdle/obstacle. I mean you really have to do the opposite of what your mind and body is telling you to do. When you're injured, you go get medical treatment, when there is a problem, you look for a solution. Anxiety and panic is one of those things that doesn't have a fix or an answer. It almost seems like the only way to recover is to do little or nothing about it and just go about your life as usual until it subsides. I've even gleaned a bit of this from Claire Weekes' book. I've put myself through hell fighting this thing. In the end by fighting you are only destroying yourself.