Guest guest Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 >>and it is incredibly, bottomless-pit scary every single time. why is that? if anxiety increases as avoidance of anxiety provoking situations increase, then shouldn't an increased number of " touching the edges " of that bottomless pit lead to a lessening of anxiety? I mean if we feel scary EVERY single time, which suggests that we ARE actually touching the edges, then why is the darn thing still scary .... every single time?! is it because there's a thought attached to it that " it's scary " ?!! and if I'm compassionate/friendly with it, it will actually decrease in intensity, eventually?! or the mere thought that at some point it should decrease starts the whole cycle? -A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2008 Report Share Posted July 30, 2008 Albrik, This isn't a direct response to your question, but it's worth mentioning. You know when you are at a swim party, and you are getting ready to jump into a freezing pool, and you feel that pause, that anxious hesitation? So you finally jump in, and the pool is absolutely freezing, just like you thought it would be. But as you swim around for awhile, you get used to it. It starts to become manageable, maybe even comfortable. Well, here's the problem. The next time you go to a swim party, and jump into the freezing pool, it's groundhog day all over again. The pool will feel just like it did the first time. The feeling of the first splash of freezing water doesn't change from having had a past experience of it, nor should we expect it to. Likewise, the feeling of anxiety upon exposure to something new and challenging, or something difficult and trying, doesn't necessarily change just because we've seen it before. What changes is knowing how to move through it, knowing what helps and what doesn't. Just jumping into the cold water and immersing ourselves in it helps tremendously. Staring at the pool and analyzing how freezing it will feel to us obviously doesn't. > > >>and it is incredibly, bottomless-pit scary every single time. > > why is that? > if anxiety increases as avoidance of anxiety provoking situations > increase, then shouldn't an increased number of " touching the edges " > of that bottomless pit lead to a lessening of anxiety? > > I mean if we feel scary EVERY single time, which suggests that we ARE > actually touching the edges, then why is the darn thing still scary > ... every single time?! > > is it because there's a thought attached to it that " it's scary " ?!! > and if I'm compassionate/friendly with it, it will actually decrease > in intensity, eventually?! > > or the mere thought that at some point it should decrease starts the > whole cycle? > > -A > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 31, 2008 Report Share Posted July 31, 2008 Great analogy, . I start every day like that swimmer, feeling anxious even before my feet hit the floor. Maybe looking at the day like this will make it a bit easier to get into the 'swim' of things. Christie > > > > >>and it is incredibly, bottomless-pit scary every single time. > > > > why is that? > > if anxiety increases as avoidance of anxiety provoking situations > > increase, then shouldn't an increased number of " touching the edges " > > of that bottomless pit lead to a lessening of anxiety? > > > > I mean if we feel scary EVERY single time, which suggests that we > ARE > > actually touching the edges, then why is the darn thing still scary > > ... every single time?! > > > > is it because there's a thought attached to it that " it's scary " ?!! > > and if I'm compassionate/friendly with it, it will actually decrease > > in intensity, eventually?! > > > > or the mere thought that at some point it should decrease starts the > > whole cycle? > > > > -A > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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