This tool is immensely powerful, but using it is not easy. Asking questions to challenge unhelpful thinking styles requires a commitment to act. If you do not do the work to think about the questions, your answer will always be unhelpful. I know, I have skirted around unhelpful thinking for years. Even if I thought to ask one of these questions, I was not interested … [Read more...] about 13 Questions to Challenge Unhelpful Thinking Styles
unhealthy thinking styles
Why Do I Think in Terms of All or Nothing?
I tell myself I avoid drama, and yet many of my waking hours are spent creating all or nothing situations in my head.  I interrupt someone and get a short response. Immediately, my mind goes to the worst possible meaning of that response. They don’t love me. They're mad at me for something. What did I do? And silence is even worse. My … [Read more...] about Why Do I Think in Terms of All or Nothing?
Everybody Expects Something of Me, Even the Birds
If I sit on the porch in the morning and don’t put the bird feeders out right away, the birds land on the empty frame and stare at me, waiting to be fed. Now I understand that I am projecting emotions for them when I tell you they are looking at me and saying, “put the feeders out already.†The birds have been coming to these … [Read more...] about Everybody Expects Something of Me, Even the Birds
Recent Raccoons and My Depression
I know my depression recovery is not a straight line. And, in the animal kingdom, some species are more active at certain times of the year. This includes raccoons that I see now on my nightly commute home. Having traveled the same back roads for almost a year, there are certain spots where I expect to see wildlife. Over the winter, I saw way more foxes than I am seeing now. … [Read more...] about Recent Raccoons and My Depression
Why Am I Afraid to Be Me?
Most days, I must explain to you why I am allowing myself some self-care time. For some reason, I don’t feel like I deserve to have “me time.†I grew up without learning how to look out for myself first. Now that may seem off-base to those closest to me. I have set goals, achieved results and always been the go-to person. And … [Read more...] about Why Am I Afraid to Be Me?
