I'm glad you all made this thread. I think this is one of my main problems and that is thinking that one of these days I will go to bed, the meds will overcome the disease and I will wake up completely cured without and obsessive or intrusive thought, clear minded. If I just accept the fact that this is part of my life that I will have to live with ALL MY LIFE, grannit I will have better days and worse days, but if I accept that this is a part of me, a disorder...OCD, but its NOT ME, then I will be better able to live with it. I will need to learn to be extra grateful for the good days and learn to be stronger on the not so good days.

God bless you all! -Jake

Great observations Jake ! Good Bless

You are so right...it is not you, it is the OCD! Accept that it exists but don't accept that it can control you. You all can beat it...enough to make it a non-factor other that having an occasional bad day...or a bad few hours. Don't let it stop you from doing anything and from enjoying life. Peace

I go years without debilitating OCD symptoms, then they will reappear suddenly, causing all consuming misery. This time around I was feeling heightened stress from work, then I went on vacation where I stayed at home for a whole week where I had no distractions. Distractions are the name of my game. I'm going to try several things-
First I'm starting and staying on medication as long as it is working well for me. Then, I am going to work on improving my physical and mental health. I am going to exercise and eat better. I am going to do yoga and learn to meditate. I think these things will make me more mindful. I also want to find things to which I can look forward. It doesn't have to be huge, just a little healthy distraction. I'm hoping this will help me stop avoiding OCD and Anxiety until it rears its ugly head so bad to get my attention. Ignoring it is clearly not getting me anywhere.

In my opinion ignoring is definitely not the answer. Acceptance and positive mental growth help me. :)