Day 16 Current stressors?

The last few days in the SEP have focused on current stresses in my life. I find it hard to respond since, apart from the enormous stress of relentless pain and the list of 'can't do's' that ensue, I don't have anything or anyone causing me stress! I'm just about fully retired but enjoy the little work that I do. I think my issues are from the past. Does anyone else have this experience?

 

I have had the same experience.
Are you isolating yourself, not having contact with others much?
Or do you have contact with people but are not being honest to yourself in your reactions to others?
Stress isn’t just what others “give” you, it’s often what you generate in response to.. anything. The news, your own cycles of behavior and thought, having to do this SEP and if you feel perfectionistic about it? How you can be hard on yourself because you can’t do much right now, your fear of doing too much or too little... I think part of the point of current stressor journaling is to see how our feelings towards past events, or our personality traits repeat and cause patterns of thought that ARE the stress we don’t acknowledge today.
You do have daily stressors, not ‘seeing’ them is part of your self discovery. This is also hard for me, I have to lean that I need to set some boundaries, and also be fully recognizing and accepting of my feelings toward people and situations.

 

Thank you so much for your thoughtful words Cactusflower. I will rethink what I understood to be 'current' stressors. You are right about the stress that I generate. The incessant and often excruciating pain coming from dystonic muscle spams in the left hand, frequently puts me on my knees in despair. This can lock me into a cycle of negative thinking, which is, of course, stressful! I tend to blame the pain, rather than stick with the difficult task of understanding and overcoming it. Given that nothing has worked so far - over 30 years to date - I think that I have learned not to be perfectionist but I still want release from this pain which today blights my whole life. I find it difficult not to be outcome oriented (as often advised on this forum) in the sense of wanting relief, and then I'm disappointed each day when the pain starts up again!

 

A member of this forum recovered from dystonia, I’m so sorry that it is your struggle too. Her book has been a big inspiration for me, Defying The Verdict by Tamara Gurin

 

I read it with great interest! Think I'll re-read it!