Dear Cali Chica:

I read your recent post slowly. Your insight is amazing to me. It just gets better and better.

Regarding simplicity, “Can things really be THIS simple?”

Yes, they can be and you already experienced this simplicity.

You wrote: “My mind did veer to the right and go there, but I stopped it”- that veering is existing neuropathways being activated, and these will continue to be activated daily, for a long, long time. The practice is to stop it, like you did, to insert new thoughts, thoughts that are true to reality, new options that make sense, just like you have been doing.

But the old neuropathways will continue to get activated, and distress will accompany those activations. Now that you are on a social break, you have the time and peace of mind to practice what needs to be practiced. But if and when you interact with some of the people you chose to not interact with currently, the activation will increase in frequency and so will the distress. You will not have enough time during a longer social event to stop the activation and reduce the distress, as you have been doing. There will be a trigger, an activation, distress, then another trigger, another activation.

When you do increase your social circle, do it slowly and gradually, plan to be able to leave a social event at any time. Be selective as to the people you are allowing back into your  life, one at a time, perhaps. Evaluate the people you let in, re-evaluate. Slowly, gradually.

anita