Everyone double checks things sometimes. For example, you and I might go over twice to make sure the stove or iron is turned off before leaving the house. It is not the same however, for people trapped by an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). People with OCD accordingly feel an extreme need to check things repeatedly, and have certain thoughts performing routines and rituals. Such thoughts (also obsessions), and rituals (also compulsions), associated with the dysfunction many times cause distress; they also get in the way of a normal daily life because those affected could not explain what is happening to them, such as in non-stop hand-washing over the slightest feeling of dirt or germs. Other common rituals manifested by folks with compulsions/obsessions are a need to repeatedly check things, touch things (especially in a particular sequence), or count things. They may also be preoccupied with order and symmetry, have difficulty throwing things out (so they accumulate), or hoard unneeded items. You must have heard of this malady by chance. What unaware observers do not know is that the abnormality disallows stricken folks to easily control these obsessions and compulsions no matter how hard they rid of them. Repetitions of impulsions at best produce temporary in them relief from an unreal/real anxiety or deeply-rooted trauma. Although most children and adults with OCD recognize that what they are doing is senseless, the consolation of few who clearly recognize it in themselves is in knowing that their behavior is out of the ordinary. The fortunate few who come to understand a little of this dysfunction’s nature are blessed indeed. They could begin putting in effect strategies helpful in avoiding their behavior irregularity; they also could somehow get on path leading to a normal life.
Wednesday, December 23, 2015
Mind-Trap
118 …
Everyone double checks things sometimes. For example, you and I might go over twice to make sure the stove or iron is turned off before leaving the house. It is not the same however, for people trapped by an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). People with OCD accordingly feel an extreme need to check things repeatedly, and have certain thoughts performing routines and rituals. Such thoughts (also obsessions), and rituals (also compulsions), associated with the dysfunction many times cause distress; they also get in the way of a normal daily life because those affected could not explain what is happening to them, such as in non-stop hand-washing over the slightest feeling of dirt or germs. Other common rituals manifested by folks with compulsions/obsessions are a need to repeatedly check things, touch things (especially in a particular sequence), or count things. They may also be preoccupied with order and symmetry, have difficulty throwing things out (so they accumulate), or hoard unneeded items. You must have heard of this malady by chance. What unaware observers do not know is that the abnormality disallows stricken folks to easily control these obsessions and compulsions no matter how hard they rid of them. Repetitions of impulsions at best produce temporary in them relief from an unreal/real anxiety or deeply-rooted trauma. Although most children and adults with OCD recognize that what they are doing is senseless, the consolation of few who clearly recognize it in themselves is in knowing that their behavior is out of the ordinary. The fortunate few who come to understand a little of this dysfunction’s nature are blessed indeed. They could begin putting in effect strategies helpful in avoiding their behavior irregularity; they also could somehow get on path leading to a normal life.
Everyone double checks things sometimes. For example, you and I might go over twice to make sure the stove or iron is turned off before leaving the house. It is not the same however, for people trapped by an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). People with OCD accordingly feel an extreme need to check things repeatedly, and have certain thoughts performing routines and rituals. Such thoughts (also obsessions), and rituals (also compulsions), associated with the dysfunction many times cause distress; they also get in the way of a normal daily life because those affected could not explain what is happening to them, such as in non-stop hand-washing over the slightest feeling of dirt or germs. Other common rituals manifested by folks with compulsions/obsessions are a need to repeatedly check things, touch things (especially in a particular sequence), or count things. They may also be preoccupied with order and symmetry, have difficulty throwing things out (so they accumulate), or hoard unneeded items. You must have heard of this malady by chance. What unaware observers do not know is that the abnormality disallows stricken folks to easily control these obsessions and compulsions no matter how hard they rid of them. Repetitions of impulsions at best produce temporary in them relief from an unreal/real anxiety or deeply-rooted trauma. Although most children and adults with OCD recognize that what they are doing is senseless, the consolation of few who clearly recognize it in themselves is in knowing that their behavior is out of the ordinary. The fortunate few who come to understand a little of this dysfunction’s nature are blessed indeed. They could begin putting in effect strategies helpful in avoiding their behavior irregularity; they also could somehow get on path leading to a normal life.
Friday, December 18, 2015
Meddling
117 …
Cinn and Dink are on edge. They insist to climb up to my lap for an unknown reason. They assert to get as close and be comforted. They whimper and shake. They could not be consoled. I begin to wonder and worry. I settle them in their beds even as they continue to be agitated while I search the house for any distraction-causing situation or intruder. I could not find any provoking interference, so I decide to turn off the squawking television. I intently listen hard for incursion. Finally a break from the quietness of the night sounds off. A sheepish, minute, and hissing ringing, cognizant to dogs and other animals, becomes evident. From where is the sound coming? Flashback suddenly hits my brain! Smoke alarms once caused Cinn and Dink to act strangely. Could it be the trigger for their unusual distress? I find a stool to reach for all house smoke alarms since I could not hear from which one the tiny beeping comes. Eureka- I find the one! I unplug the last alarm and the critters get calm. Mystery ends.
Cinn and Dink are on edge. They insist to climb up to my lap for an unknown reason. They assert to get as close and be comforted. They whimper and shake. They could not be consoled. I begin to wonder and worry. I settle them in their beds even as they continue to be agitated while I search the house for any distraction-causing situation or intruder. I could not find any provoking interference, so I decide to turn off the squawking television. I intently listen hard for incursion. Finally a break from the quietness of the night sounds off. A sheepish, minute, and hissing ringing, cognizant to dogs and other animals, becomes evident. From where is the sound coming? Flashback suddenly hits my brain! Smoke alarms once caused Cinn and Dink to act strangely. Could it be the trigger for their unusual distress? I find a stool to reach for all house smoke alarms since I could not hear from which one the tiny beeping comes. Eureka- I find the one! I unplug the last alarm and the critters get calm. Mystery ends.
Suffering
116 …
Everyone knows that living with advancing age’s joint and bone aches would be routine; it is an expectation after all. Mikey groans daily now from his bodily aches. I could not help groan inwardly myself with, and for him, even if I were not in pain. When pain lives permanently in someone’s body at a much younger age, it is truly different. It is the case with Mikey who is only in his mid-fifties. For a long while before now, at a young age of nine, he lived with legitimate pain caused by back fractures, and jaw/mouth surgeries from a car accident; he recently, in addition, has had two lumbar surgeries. He is waiting for yet, a third procedure that promises to strengthen and hold his back together. I have my own nagging body aches from daily exertions. I don’t think though that I have any rights complaining about them; when others like Mikey justifiably hurts from medically documented worn-out muscles and bones, my aches are comparatively miniscule and
Everyone knows that living with advancing age’s joint and bone aches would be routine; it is an expectation after all. Mikey groans daily now from his bodily aches. I could not help groan inwardly myself with, and for him, even if I were not in pain. When pain lives permanently in someone’s body at a much younger age, it is truly different. It is the case with Mikey who is only in his mid-fifties. For a long while before now, at a young age of nine, he lived with legitimate pain caused by back fractures, and jaw/mouth surgeries from a car accident; he recently, in addition, has had two lumbar surgeries. He is waiting for yet, a third procedure that promises to strengthen and hold his back together. I have my own nagging body aches from daily exertions. I don’t think though that I have any rights complaining about them; when others like Mikey justifiably hurts from medically documented worn-out muscles and bones, my aches are comparatively miniscule and
Mindfulness
115 ...
Holidays are paradoxically a curse and a celebration. Just look around the next time you are out and close to where people mill about. When you go food shopping at your local store, listen to the bell being rung near the doorway. It is asking for your love-gift of small and large amounts; you are aware that the funds raised by that lowly, yet committed bell ringer goes to an organized collection entity which passes on material gifts to those who do not have means to purchase presents for loved ones. You make a choice to acknowledge or ignore the bell. In a different setting, out in the open shopping areas, public restaurants and parks, you could not miss children accompanied by their parents who lovingly pamper them with affection or lavish them with food they oftentimes reject, waste or throw away. Close by, raggedly clothed children cry of hunger or physical pain while their equally tattered adult companions or family scrounge for leftover food in garbage receptacles. You would not miss their like-acquaintances or friends who lay their tired bodies on lowly benches and cemented cold floors. You, who have more than enough to spend on whims and caprices of your loved ones, have the choice to shut your eyes, zip-up your pockets or share your resources with the hapless souls. You either positively or negatively mind the need you witness right there and then. You could choose to visit the sick, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked and to put smiles on wearied faces. You could also selfishly disregard the need you sense around and let pain, loneliness, bitterness go unnoticed these holy, gift-giving holidays! You have choices to make. Are you going to make the compassionate or indifferent choice?
Holidays are paradoxically a curse and a celebration. Just look around the next time you are out and close to where people mill about. When you go food shopping at your local store, listen to the bell being rung near the doorway. It is asking for your love-gift of small and large amounts; you are aware that the funds raised by that lowly, yet committed bell ringer goes to an organized collection entity which passes on material gifts to those who do not have means to purchase presents for loved ones. You make a choice to acknowledge or ignore the bell. In a different setting, out in the open shopping areas, public restaurants and parks, you could not miss children accompanied by their parents who lovingly pamper them with affection or lavish them with food they oftentimes reject, waste or throw away. Close by, raggedly clothed children cry of hunger or physical pain while their equally tattered adult companions or family scrounge for leftover food in garbage receptacles. You would not miss their like-acquaintances or friends who lay their tired bodies on lowly benches and cemented cold floors. You, who have more than enough to spend on whims and caprices of your loved ones, have the choice to shut your eyes, zip-up your pockets or share your resources with the hapless souls. You either positively or negatively mind the need you witness right there and then. You could choose to visit the sick, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked and to put smiles on wearied faces. You could also selfishly disregard the need you sense around and let pain, loneliness, bitterness go unnoticed these holy, gift-giving holidays! You have choices to make. Are you going to make the compassionate or indifferent choice?
Regret
114 ...
Your psyche detects an unsavory taste. You can't quite explain it, but the more you get around noticing things getting dusty simply by existing, the longer the bitter taste stays in your mouth. Your stomach then begins to get agitated short of releasing vomit. You ask: How did stuff collect in every nook and cranny of the house? You groan: Wasn't getting additional cabinets to keep in things blow the whistle on item spillage? And ... when did your body require grander, bigger furniture pieces? Did you not consider that large furniture would take and shrink much of your living space? This overwhelming accumulation is downright out-of-hand. Wake up and do something!
Your psyche detects an unsavory taste. You can't quite explain it, but the more you get around noticing things getting dusty simply by existing, the longer the bitter taste stays in your mouth. Your stomach then begins to get agitated short of releasing vomit. You ask: How did stuff collect in every nook and cranny of the house? You groan: Wasn't getting additional cabinets to keep in things blow the whistle on item spillage? And ... when did your body require grander, bigger furniture pieces? Did you not consider that large furniture would take and shrink much of your living space? This overwhelming accumulation is downright out-of-hand. Wake up and do something!
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Caring
113 ...
Unless you are in hibernation or you are totally oblivious of what is happening around the world in which you live, you must have heard of Doctors Without Borders, Ronald Macdonald Homes, Operation Smile, Mercy Ships, Greenpeace, Moral Monday Walks, Crop Walk, and many more political, social, environmental, philanthropic groups and their work. Mixed media not only report over and over of battles these many organizations enter into, but they also speak keenly of how they go head to head with those who oppose them in order to serve the meaningful purposes for which they stand. Note how they hold large and small rallies to make known their presence; observe how they organize the community for marathon mile walks or runs, an auction, a barbecue, a concert, a dance or the like to raise funds for the benefit of their services and charitable acts. Whether people join in any of these organizations for their mantra, walk distances for their likeminded foundations, or create human chains to raise awareness for a cause, you can assume that they do so because ofan internalized passion to serve and to express deep motivations all of which raise, and lift the human spirit. Members of these groups zealously draw from all sorts of resources endowed to them so that they may further perpetuate the noble grounds they hope to aid. What else initiates their enthusiasm and what sustains their intense motivation, you ask? You may not readily get the answers you want, but what you know should suit the support you can give them. You know that the enigma of the human spirit, the grandeur of it lives, and it gets ignited time and again for wonderfully fervent, charitable, provocative, and ever mindful desire required to care for itself, care for the life around it, and care for others who could be served by its transcendent goals.
Unless you are in hibernation or you are totally oblivious of what is happening around the world in which you live, you must have heard of Doctors Without Borders, Ronald Macdonald Homes, Operation Smile, Mercy Ships, Greenpeace, Moral Monday Walks, Crop Walk, and many more political, social, environmental, philanthropic groups and their work. Mixed media not only report over and over of battles these many organizations enter into, but they also speak keenly of how they go head to head with those who oppose them in order to serve the meaningful purposes for which they stand. Note how they hold large and small rallies to make known their presence; observe how they organize the community for marathon mile walks or runs, an auction, a barbecue, a concert, a dance or the like to raise funds for the benefit of their services and charitable acts. Whether people join in any of these organizations for their mantra, walk distances for their likeminded foundations, or create human chains to raise awareness for a cause, you can assume that they do so because ofan internalized passion to serve and to express deep motivations all of which raise, and lift the human spirit. Members of these groups zealously draw from all sorts of resources endowed to them so that they may further perpetuate the noble grounds they hope to aid. What else initiates their enthusiasm and what sustains their intense motivation, you ask? You may not readily get the answers you want, but what you know should suit the support you can give them. You know that the enigma of the human spirit, the grandeur of it lives, and it gets ignited time and again for wonderfully fervent, charitable, provocative, and ever mindful desire required to care for itself, care for the life around it, and care for others who could be served by its transcendent goals.
Noticing
112 ...
You get up every morning you are given the grace of life. You thank your God for the potentials of existence. For fifty-two weeks or more on a given calendar year, you tidy up and make the bed. You wash soiled sheets and then dress the bed mattress with new ones. You do the task over and over without complaints just the same as you wash dishes several times in a day or load/unload the dishwasher three to four times a week. To your chores you add bathroom cleanup and total house upkeep, carpet vacuuming and furniture dusting twice or more a week. Sometimes, very cold mornings, and half asleep, you take out your little critters so they could regulate themselves outdoors, not indoors. Then, you feed them not once, but three times. All these you do day in and day out not knowing whether or not other folks in your household notice. They don't verbally thank you, so are they even aware of your contributions to keeping together a home? What does upkeep of a house monetarily cost? Tell me again, “For what potentials of the day are you thankful?”
You get up every morning you are given the grace of life. You thank your God for the potentials of existence. For fifty-two weeks or more on a given calendar year, you tidy up and make the bed. You wash soiled sheets and then dress the bed mattress with new ones. You do the task over and over without complaints just the same as you wash dishes several times in a day or load/unload the dishwasher three to four times a week. To your chores you add bathroom cleanup and total house upkeep, carpet vacuuming and furniture dusting twice or more a week. Sometimes, very cold mornings, and half asleep, you take out your little critters so they could regulate themselves outdoors, not indoors. Then, you feed them not once, but three times. All these you do day in and day out not knowing whether or not other folks in your household notice. They don't verbally thank you, so are they even aware of your contributions to keeping together a home? What does upkeep of a house monetarily cost? Tell me again, “For what potentials of the day are you thankful?”
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