Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Going through some stressful times at the moment, Thank God ALL of our friends don't go through the 'low' periods at the same times we do. The escape from reality by imaginning dreams of future joy is an enticing distraction. This preperation for getting into Grad school demands some history work, and self-awareness questions that I find upsetting. To have to explain myself, and my thoughts, in order to please someone else, causes my codependent self to rebel. As a 'natural' people-pleaser, because of the learned behavior of being codependent, of being highly sensetive to others needs (how to make THEM happy so i can get what "I" want), seems to be engaging a codependent characteristic of 'all or nothing thought' for now. My mind 'flips' to mind-reading others desires for the answers they're wanting from me. Some of the questions seem unimportant in their purpose, so I argue, with my self mentally, as to why this or that particular question is necessary; in other words, I lack the knowledge of its purpose, so it makes the fear of not answering the question correctly strike a 'codependent nerve', does that make sense? What I find odd in my felings, is that I go from one extreme to the other without a middle...I can either formulate ideas for pleasing myself, or for pleasing others; but I can't see both. Give me a minutr here...I'm thinking of how to say what I feel. I'm either all in or I'm detached. I can either focus on the 'problem' with great intensity, or ignor it completely, I can't tell whether it's caused by stress or what.  It's the same with trying to search for employment: either I must 'force' myself to do whatever I'm asked to do, whether I want to or not ; to be completely codependent and lose myself in someone else's dilemma, or I allow myself to look for ways to care for my own dilemmas. This is especially so in this career-changing challenge I'm into. This interest in counseling feels just too good, like 'what am I not seeing here'? It's like 'scattered's' message that she's INTJ, a "Mastermind" personality characteristic of 'contingency planning', the process of entrailment thinking...the if/then thinking in order to be prepared for any surprises. It is a natural scrutiny for what may be missing or overlooked in a plan for achieving a goal, happiness, and then getting disappointed in the end because something wasn't considered as important when all that 'imagineering' was going on in our minds. Having experienced enough of the disappointing 'dream meets reality' scenario's in life where 'reality' crushed any hope of 'expectant' joy, it becomes a negative learned experience of not trusting your "this is how I'd like it to be" thoughts. And at the moment, I'm not getting any thing that even resembles tacit signals of correctness from the universe, it's mainly HOPE, and to tell you the truth, I don't like to gamble, especially when the stakes are success or destructive failure. I've had enough disappointment in life; maybe I just haven't learned whatever lesson I'm supposed to have learned yet in order to make my life happier, But it's a lesson I'd like to learn sooner than later. As a 'low foresight' type, it's the question that is the plan I make NOW, going to be a worthwhile plan when I get to the end of achieving what I need to accomplish it?! Anyway, I'm just 'stuck' at the moment! More questions than answers. Looking for a response from outside to comfort me. I can't tell whether it's an avoidance behavior or not. Or whether it's a trust issue with my own desires. Everything seems to point to a helping career, I feel much happier talking about emotional and mental theory: philosophy, than anything else. What I talk about on this Discussion Group, and the way I talk about it, is me in my most happy state, and the thanks I get sometimes is personally rewarding. Maybe it's the ego self-esteem thing we're not supposed to do as codependents, where no one knows WHO made the doors as an art form down on the 'ranch', just an unknown 'somebody'. No one to appreciate the effort that went in to making them, the challenges overcome...just "here's your check, now clean up your mess and leave, Thanks". Maybe I expect too much out of life, or myself...maybe that's just the 'controlling' issue most of us codependents face. Maybe codependents just suffer from a form of 'Introverted Autism' (that's strange...I just looked up the word autism to see if I spelled it correctly and it says: "autism: a state of mind characterized by daydreaming, hallucinations, and disregard of external reality.") which actually aptly describes my mental behavior. SHIT! more research! Well, it may be a clue. I wonder if there's a cure? So here I go again with the ADD-type lack of concentration disorder, to move my focus somewhere else...is it synchronicity, or immaturity?Ah, yes; the unanswered questions of a searching mind, a mind looking for answers without a clearly formed question. Groping more than directed. Some fun, eh? Later

Replies

deleted_user
deleted_user

sometimes you gotta just slow down and let the lessons come to you.......

you are making me dizzy!
xo
deleted_user
deleted_user

oh rather, \"i feel dizzy when i think about how busy you are searching\"

no judgment!
deleted_user
deleted_user

Hang in there... the stressful times will pass and the questions will all be answered. It\'s like that \"Wait\" poem that I sent you last week. I think as codeps we sometimes forget the importance of waiting because waiting means it\'s out of OUR control, and we all know how we deal with it when that happens.

So hang in there, continue to share with us as you need to, and know that the Good Lord doesn\'t give us any challenge or season we can\'t handle.
deleted_user
deleted_user

I think going from one extreme to the other is normal when we are trying to determine our boundaries and get them right. Certainly how much of your life you are living for others as opposed to how much you live for yourself is part of this.
deleted_user
deleted_user

I like \'afloat\'s correction from \"YOU are making ME dizzy\" to the less codependent \"I am allowing ME to feel dizzy\" Very aware; nice recovery, Codep!

It\'s the \"wait\" thing that\'s getting to me. All the things that need to happen NOW are being judged by my focus on the sand running out of the timer. The intersection of income and bills, to the extent I may have to \'release\' my favorite little \'2005 supercharged Chevy Impala Super Sport\' because I have failed (ONCE AGAIN!) to provide for myself, without any intervention from GOD is a real anxiety producer!!! My trust in God\'s help is the real test here; to finally say \"HERE! I\'m tired of trying to Control all of this crap! YOU do it for awhile!\" probably is not that prayerful, however, God knows that already (before I think it). So what\'s the holdup? What is the \'lag time\' for corrective thinking, if any is necessary. I feel like I\'m playing blind man\'s bluff in a mine-field...it makes me really, Really, REALLY nervous.

Thanks to you too \'hoops\'; part of what I\'m struggling with is trying to mind-read future employers needs in order to say the right thing they want to hear against my loss of direction for what I\'d like to do...just what you said: how much for others/how much for me? At the moment, I\'m not thinking about what I want (or need); I need to create a way for me to be wanted by someone who wants to give me money so I can survive until \'later\', when I\'m out of survival mode.