Thank you Anita and Peggy for your feedback as always.

Anita, I am starting as a new patient next week to see a quality psychiatrist that came well recommended by my doctor. I am looking forward to this new experience. I also have been experimenting switching up my meal habits, meal times, and healthier eating without as much harsh judgment on my part. I gently keep reminding myself how good it feels to let go and to continue to practice gentleness and love with myself and my relationship with myself. I will check out Mark Williams’ mindful meditation series, thank you.

Peggy, I will look into the Alexander Technique. My posture by all means has lots of room for improvement. I think I could definitely learn a thing or two about the teachings of how to use my body correctly with all the muscles, alignment, posture, well-being, etc.. so much to discover and learn! And also as we’ve discussed in previous threads, the never-ending beauty and peace found in nature can soothe the mind and soul. There are so many beautiful sights to observe and appreciate, it is so amazing and incomprehensible how much detail, life, a universe, is in just a drop of water or in a bunch of little pebbles… so much complexity, life, detail, in the “average” that we must pause and observe, quietly.

Thank you for all your replies! As I said before, it is enlightening to see things from others’ perspectives. It is refreshing to learn new things and new perspectives and knowledge. There really is never any use to mope around and feel sorry for oneself. It doesn’t do you any favors and the person who said the mean comment couldn’t care less how you feel. And that’s okay, I say that with no resentment; rather that it is simply a fact of life. It does the mind and soul good to let things roll off, and to think of good things and to not dwell on the depressing things, the stuff we cannot control/change. However, it is important to change what can control, though, and to gently do it so we can feel that sweet sense of accomplishment in our personal lives. That’s always a great feeling.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by K.

Thank you Peggy and Inky for both your comments regarding this. It is always helpful to hear the voices of others, what we’ve all been through, and the steps we’ve taken to handle it and overcome, to come out stronger and better. I would like to think of this as a learning experience. We can obviously never control the words other people choose to utter from their mouths. That is on them. However, as we’ve all heard before, we can control what we personally do and say, and how we act, look, behave, etc. So that in and of itself is empowering and beautiful.

That’s interesting Inky,

I wonder if it’s just our mindset that is present when we’re out about travelling vs. living comfortably doing normal stuff in our every day lives. I feel like food eaten during travels just is so calorie-laden and rich compared to normal foods & drinks we make at home… all those extra sneaky calorie bombs that are put into those foods and drinks that we don’t even think of doing at home. Do you think that may have something to do with it? I think it has to do a lot with the mindset though and the deep comfort that usually comes with being home and in that routine. It affords us peace of mind and sanity, those sacred things that are important to each of us, whatever that may look like for each person. I feel like if that is disrupted, our bodies can feel like they are getting derailed somehow, or at least our minds in some way.

Hi Inky, thank you for your feedback. I too can relate to when you said ” Cheese is my beloved downfall. Don’t think I can gracefully go vegan as a lifestyle.” Cheese is also a large vice of mine… lol. But I do enjoy how it doesn’t have many or any carbs, and I honestly think it gets a bad wrap too often. You said travelling is a huge challenge, would you mind expanding on what you mean by that a little? For me, I can say travelling is also a huge challenge for me in the respect that it scares me to shake up my eating routine/habits and feel “forced” even though I’m not being forced, per se, to eat on someone else’s schedule or if eating at the time I’m hungry simply isn’t a viable option for one reason or another. So I feel a perceived loss of control that my eating routine is being dishonored and out of my control, which stresses me out. I really would love to enjoy travelling more from the standpoint that it’s awesome to go to new places and try new foods! That sounds so exciting! It is something I am actively trying to improve on, something that I used to do in past years before my whacky eating patterns flared up again. Now I like to pack snack foods in my purse like a weirdo and eat them in the bathroom in secrecy if need be. It is really shameful and embarrassing to me but I would rather do that and regret it then go on ravenously hungry and get “hangry” and overeat and spend too much money on a bunch of foods out somewhere.

Hi Inky, thank you for your reply. If you don’t mind I have a few questions that if you’d like to answer I would be interested in reading them:  How many meals a day do you usually prefer to eat? Do you eat consistently throughout the day or take breaks of fasting at all? What do you think works best for you? Have you ever had periods in your life where you changed up your methods of eating?

No worries, Katie, I totally understand! Me too (in regards to my responses). Thank you for all your input.  I really got a lot out of when you said this: “I don’t think we realize how much shame plays a role in how we live our lives…like we go through life thinking there is something wrong with us and we constantly struggle to be our authentic selves. When we can let go of the shame buried inside of us, it’s much easier to be our authentic selves…sometimes other people don’t like this because we become less “people-pleasing”. But there is such a freedom in being yourself. ”

I also liked how you illustrated such great points on Brene Brown’s works. They sound comforting and illuminating, that it is all okay and there’s never anything wrong (with us).

When you said “I guess ideally we would all be able to just be present and not wanting to be somewhere else, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with looking forward to being somewhere you know will bring you peace.” It is so true, when we stop and think about it. There IS nothing wrong with that, in regards to the concept perhaps pulling us out of the present. It is important to look forward to peace, even though it should ideally be found in the present. Sometimes I simply cannot achieve this to the degree I would like to. It needs work. LOL. But that is also okay. It should always be a continual work in progress. That is growth, and that requires time and gentle understanding and unfolding for all of us.  In regards to my happy place up North, there are many beautiful places in my state. I love venturing up North because there are so many pine trees, breezy cold air, and silence. It is restorative and I feel like whenever I go there, the whipping winds that blow into my face and all around me wash away the noise. The noise is replaced by the white noise of the wind all around that drowns out stress. Sometimes I find cleansing in white noise vs. total silence. It depends on my mood. It is refreshing not to hear cars whizzing by, people chatting incessantly, keys clacking, people walking, talking on the phone, etc, etc, etc… I have more than one happy place obviously, but this one is so majestic!! 🙂  Do you have a happy place (or two) you like to visit?

Have a wonderful long weekend, Katie!! That sounds so wonderful!!