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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 30th, 2023

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  • When you’re a type A kind of person who enjoys having routines and tasks to complete in order to keep your active brain happy, I find it’s best that you intentionally include personal time into your calendar and stick to it as if it’s an important meeting. Instead of waiting for free time to pop up and then thinking “well now what?,” put plans in place ahead of time on your calendar to take time for yourself. Maybe the first few hours on the calendar are spent reflecting about the activities you already enjoy or some new ones you want to check out. Then plan out when you’re going to do them. An hour on Wednesday afternoon going for a hike at whatever trail, 2 hours Saturday evening watching your favorite TV show, 1 hour Friday night joining your friend for an event you’ve never heard of before. Be specific and be intentional with your time. I think you’ll find that it helps your brain to still be in that “go get it!” mentality when you’re actively and purposefully setting aside time for yourself to break up with monotony and relax your brain. It’s not only good for your overall physical health, but it will help you avoid burnout and allow you to become happier and more productive with the time you do spend at work.

    That’s what I’d suggest you start working on. Start today by putting an hour block on your upcoming calendar to sit down and intentionally plan out when you will take time for yourself and what you might want to do. Then hold yourself accountable for relaxing and taking care of yourself just as you would a job responsibility.


  • Often times we get stuck in the what-if and it comes with a lot of anxiety and worry about trying to find the “right” thing to do or say. But what helps me is asking myself the question, “wouldn’t you rather know?”

    I’ve been denied by many beautiful women and I’ve been accepted by others I never thought I’d have a chance with. The only ones that I regret are the ones I never had the courage to ask. Life’s short my friend, don’t burden yourself with worry and wonder. Give it a try, just ask her honestly and be ok with whatever the answer is.

    If she just wants to help with the house? Great, you have a better chance of becoming friends now that you’re not worried about what she thinks of you. If she’s unsure or says yes, then just let things develop as they will. Worst case scenario, she doesn’t talk to you anymore…sad yes, but at least you can look for someone who wants you back!










  • Calling people out on their BS is the right line to draw for me personally, but I still want that person to have the right to express their opinion. We just need to teach people that it’s ok to be wrong as long as you can admit it and learn from it. No idea gets processed until pushed from an opposing party.

    Sitting back and doing nothing teaches nothing. Calling it appalling and informing the person why they’re wrong is the right step toward change. But if you can’t say it in a way that makes them hear you, then you’re doomed to have the argument all over again.




  • This is actually very interesting and gets at the heart of the problem in many different ways. Very true that there’s a money barrier that excludes some that might be most in need of services. There needs to be a more focused effort on providing assistance to those who need it at reduced rates or with additional insurance help.

    But the bigger problem still remains with helping men (and women frankly, but moreso men) to understand what therapy/counseling is and is not. For years psychologists have been naming symptoms and diagnosing individuals with such and such disease or shortcoming on the part of the individual. Just like everything in the corporate world, they rely on statistics and numbers to come up with definitions for problems and for solutions.

    I’m currently enrolled in a master’s program to obtain my licensing for professional counseling, and I can tell you that the attitude on that is finally starting to bend. I hear what you’re saying about not wanting therapy to simply be a self-affirmation circle-jerk because it doesn’t feel helpful to be told how wonderful you are by a person just to be knocked right back down again in a real-world experience.

    But beneath even your resistance there’s still an admission that support can be helpful. In my personal opinion, I think counseling/therapy is a purposeful space to open up about experiences and feelings that you wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to express. Talking to yourself or talking to animals is helpful, but simply being able to unburden your thoughts to another human being that doesn’t know you and won’t judge you (or at least… they’re paid not to judge you) for your opinions or past mistakes can be a hugely beneficial step towards true healing.

    Ultimately no counseling or therapy techniques can be effective until you decide they can be. It’s about helping to reframe your thoughts in ways you might not have considered, and it’s also meant to give you useful tools for coping with feelings both now and in the future. Successful counseling is one in which the client feels comfortable and confident about how to deal with the hardest parts of human existence.

    More needs to be done to educate people about what they can expect from counseling so they can make their own decisions about whether or not it would be useful to them. Being able to word vomit my insecurities with a stranger for an hour is surprisingly uplifting and helps me clear my head towards whatever’s coming next.





  • This is something I’m currently studying for a class so this is really intriguing to me. For what it’s worth, that task is not as easy as it seems and you can tell from others here (myself included as I often get frustrated by things like forgetting to send in a rebate form) that it may be more common for people to NOT accomplish this kind of task.

    I just wanted to tell you that I hope you can feel some of that sense of accomplishment along with the relief. Whether it’s hard or easy is irrelevant…you did it and that’s what matters! Good work!