The finishing statement was the adage that ‘it’s not the circumstances that determine the quality of your life, but how you deal with them.’ I realise that this seems a little silly as try telling this to people dealing with terminal illness, have lost someone they love or don’t have enough food. A personal example is a friend who died of cancer last month after having suffered from depression all her life. And what about the people who lost loved ones in the earthquake in Italy last week?
However, I guess it comes down to a choice we have to make. Like my mum was told in her positive thinking class, there’s no point in ruminating about the past – take action in the present moment to move towards where you want to be. I have spent a lot of time thinking about why me, why OCD, why did I get it (genes, childhood experiences, etc.)? But, to use another adage, ‘finding out how you fell into a hole isn’t going to get you out of it!’ It may not seem fair or reasonable that you have OCD or are suffering so, but you have to make a choice to deal with it and not look at the past.
I also wanted to add (and you’re going to hate me for this!), ‘every cloud has a silver lining.’ Well, at least I believe the OCD one does. Before OCD, I had little sympathy for people’s frailties. I had no experience of disability and wasn’t that interested in helping any but the most extreme cases of suffering. But now, I understand more about what it is like to have a disability. I feel I can relate to most people more as you realise we’re all a bit mad and most of us need help at some point in life for something. Most importantly, I’m engaged in society and try to do my bit to make things better – I write to my MP about mental health provision, volunteer and donate what I can to charity campaigns. I feel so alive. Life just seems great now because I know what it’s like to have been at the bottom of the valley and – so OCD has given me something positive too!
- OCD Guest Blogger 2 -
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