Dear Palegazesunnidays:

The long waiting lists for free counseling in the U.K. are part-evidence of the unfortunate current global mental health crisis we are in, isn’t it?

“I am trying to do my best to work through things myself“- excellent! You are welcome to use the forums in a self-help context for working through things.

“I have been reading through some of the blog articles on Tiny Budda and there were a couple that resonated with me“- what I read from the articles you attached-  reads as if you wrote it!

“I’m have become more acutely aware of feeling angry on many occasions in the past and have suppressed it, not allowed it to speak. However, more recently I am finding it really difficult to suppress“- no need to suppress anger, only its expressions (“I’ve been finding myself snapping at my boys in on occasions in recent months”, Jan 28)

“and I guess I have become more aware that it’s been trying to tell me something very important. I have found myself wanting to know what it’s been wanting to say and I now understand“- excellent! Anger like any other emotion has a valid message, or messages for you: something that you need to change for the benefit of your own (and others’) well-being.

“I’ve have been thinking a lot over the past week about how to go about changing things so that I prioritise myself, show myself self-compassion, self-care..  I need to learn to say no, and to set boundaries… And I need to remain aware of my inner child“- you are on the right track!

“I need to learn about unnecessary guilt too“- this was a huge, long-term struggle for me and I would  like to help you with it, in this context of self-help.

“I felt I took a step, all be it a very, very tiny step in the right direction on Sunday”- a tiny step shared about on tiny buddha is just right..!

“A texted me Sunday morning ‘Do you still want an early cuppa?’. I wrestled with saying yes/no.. after sitting with it for 20 min or so, I texted him and said, ‘No thanks. I’ve got my climbing course today (which I had)…Hope you have a good day’. I enjoyed my walk and had a great time..”-  well done, Palegazesunnidays!

The next step sometime along the way would be perhaps to say no to him without having to explain why. The key in this process of change is to patiently take one step at a time and congratulate yourself for it: no step is tiny when you are moving in the right direction.

anita