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Anchor Days
Life, as it happens, is mostly out of our control. No matter how much we think we have a things under control, something unexpected occurs. Once we have and old lingering issue taken care of, some new taxing situation will pop into it's place. For those of us who are list makers, this is not only easy to see, it is itself its own catastrophe.
We all must learn to adapt to this type of change. Fear of change is not just its own disorder, it is a part of the human condition, only to varying degrees. Learning to adapt to change is a crucial element to survival on any dimension, must less physically. As I attempt to put my mental disorder into balance, I have noticed the affect the disruptions can have on my psyche, and I have begun to learn how to put my disorders to good use.
Take for example my obsessive list making. In knowing that excessive behavior of any sort is a bad thing, I have limited myself by listing after instead of before. This has been possible by allowing for my limitations while keeping my personal priorities as the intuitive for each moment. Through this I have learned that there are specific patterns to my life independent of other things around me. When these patterns are disrupted, my psyche begins to alter. Life events always interrupts orchestrated intentions, and my observations have helped me to see the need for anchors: activities in which I participate on a regular basis.
Most people have anchors in the forms of holidays or other seasonal occurrences. When we don't participate in whatever our regular traditions, we may find ourselves psychologically unbalanced until we resume our specific and natural patterns. If we cannot, depression can occur. We can influence factors, such as with tanning beds. Society can also have an impact on the variables, which we have learned with the advent of the American Halloween celebrations. Just as our culture impacts our anchors, so do our daily habits.
Most people have school or work to establish daily rituals that form the anchors of or psyche as well as our behaviors. For those of us in recovery, these anchors become even more important. Not many of us know how to balance this stability with the probable unforeseen events life often offers in the form of death, disease, or maybe even a hoped for child. This can be achieved though the application of anchor days.
Because I have made my list of actual activities instead of intended ideologies, I have seen that I have specific patterns that have begun to form. Mondays, for example, are the foundation of my rhythm. On Mondays, if I can clean specific rooms and produce specific style pieces, I feel as though no matter what is going on in the outside world, from weather to news of family happenings, I can deal with it all. I used to think it had only to do with what I considered my space and, though cleaning is definitely a part of my anchor activities, the days on which I perform these rituals seems just as important. I clean the Kitchen on Monday. If I don't do it Monday, I feel as though I am playing catch-up all week long. Thursday is another heavy cleaning day, whatever tasks I may have completed on other days. The rest of the week there are things I hope to do, but life rarely plays out in reality the way we expect.
Even on Mondays and Thursdays outside influences can impact my emotional accomplishments in the physical world. I understand that, but I also understand that I am at the very least a few days away from anchoring my psyche again. For me this is done through cleaning and writing to balance my priorities. For you it may involve other activities such as religious services or auto maintenance. Each of us require different activities, but my observations have shown me that, as humans, we are healthier for maintaining these anchor days.
Just as important as establishing them, is understanding that each of us will require different types of anchors. Not in just activities, but in the timing of those activities, we may find ourselves grouped with like-minded individuals, but even this will not guarantee unanimous observations. Being created unique and individual, and experiencing this world in unique and individual ways, we are likely to require unique and individual manifestations of psychological comfort. Enact this idea and you may find your anxieties more palatable
We all must learn to adapt to this type of change. Fear of change is not just its own disorder, it is a part of the human condition, only to varying degrees. Learning to adapt to change is a crucial element to survival on any dimension, must less physically. As I attempt to put my mental disorder into balance, I have noticed the affect the disruptions can have on my psyche, and I have begun to learn how to put my disorders to good use.
Take for example my obsessive list making. In knowing that excessive behavior of any sort is a bad thing, I have limited myself by listing after instead of before. This has been possible by allowing for my limitations while keeping my personal priorities as the intuitive for each moment. Through this I have learned that there are specific patterns to my life independent of other things around me. When these patterns are disrupted, my psyche begins to alter. Life events always interrupts orchestrated intentions, and my observations have helped me to see the need for anchors: activities in which I participate on a regular basis.
Most people have anchors in the forms of holidays or other seasonal occurrences. When we don't participate in whatever our regular traditions, we may find ourselves psychologically unbalanced until we resume our specific and natural patterns. If we cannot, depression can occur. We can influence factors, such as with tanning beds. Society can also have an impact on the variables, which we have learned with the advent of the American Halloween celebrations. Just as our culture impacts our anchors, so do our daily habits.
Most people have school or work to establish daily rituals that form the anchors of or psyche as well as our behaviors. For those of us in recovery, these anchors become even more important. Not many of us know how to balance this stability with the probable unforeseen events life often offers in the form of death, disease, or maybe even a hoped for child. This can be achieved though the application of anchor days.
Because I have made my list of actual activities instead of intended ideologies, I have seen that I have specific patterns that have begun to form. Mondays, for example, are the foundation of my rhythm. On Mondays, if I can clean specific rooms and produce specific style pieces, I feel as though no matter what is going on in the outside world, from weather to news of family happenings, I can deal with it all. I used to think it had only to do with what I considered my space and, though cleaning is definitely a part of my anchor activities, the days on which I perform these rituals seems just as important. I clean the Kitchen on Monday. If I don't do it Monday, I feel as though I am playing catch-up all week long. Thursday is another heavy cleaning day, whatever tasks I may have completed on other days. The rest of the week there are things I hope to do, but life rarely plays out in reality the way we expect.
Even on Mondays and Thursdays outside influences can impact my emotional accomplishments in the physical world. I understand that, but I also understand that I am at the very least a few days away from anchoring my psyche again. For me this is done through cleaning and writing to balance my priorities. For you it may involve other activities such as religious services or auto maintenance. Each of us require different activities, but my observations have shown me that, as humans, we are healthier for maintaining these anchor days.
Just as important as establishing them, is understanding that each of us will require different types of anchors. Not in just activities, but in the timing of those activities, we may find ourselves grouped with like-minded individuals, but even this will not guarantee unanimous observations. Being created unique and individual, and experiencing this world in unique and individual ways, we are likely to require unique and individual manifestations of psychological comfort. Enact this idea and you may find your anxieties more palatable