Tag: thoughts

Busy Bee

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Everyone has those times, where you get so busy and hectic, that you get completely overwhelmed. It is something that happens to me regularly, and I find that it can really trigger my anxiety. I start losing my temper, start panicking, I overheat and I get upset. The worst feeling is, that I get the idea in my head that I am only overwhelmed because I am useless. A good person, who could actually do things properly, would never have got so worked up about it. And, thinking like that, can start a cycle of demeaning myself, and feeling worse and worse.

These days, I know that if I power through, things will calm down, and with that, my anxiety will subside. And then, I can just focus on my job again. Which is such a relief. Whilst it is good to know that I can get through being overwhelmed, it is frustrating that it still happens so regularly. Anxiety, for me, feels like I lose control of my emotions, something that adds to the feeling of intensity. It is exhausting.

Although people who see me get worked up might disagree, I am slowly getting better at dealing with this. I try to simply focus on what task is directly in front of me. Usually panic attacks come on, because I see all the work I have to do, and I feel bad that the pile is ever-growing. And that pile of work, is just a badge of dishonour, letting the world know that I can’t cope. In a calm mind, I know that a work list getting bigger, is not necessarily an indication on my abilities, more the situation which is outwith my control.

Usually, at home, listening to music or a walk in the fresh air, work as tactics to get away from any panic I feel rising. So I can go off on my own, collect my thoughts, and come back and attack tasks with a fresher mind. But, in situations not at home, none of these solutions are possible. If I can stay focused on my task, sometimes I can just focus on what I am doing, and blank out everything else. But that isn’t always possible either. I have tried to hum or sing to myself when I get into situations that can trigger my anxiety. That can help. But, I get nervous of someone judging me for singing a silly Disney song. I am trying to get over that.

Not so long ago, if I was busy and got overwhelmed, I would just leave the situation completely. That sometimes meant leaving work early or cancelling on friends. I don’t do that anymore. I do push through it. I just need to deal better with what happens when I have to work through stuff. But, that takes time.

Depression Diaries: Working Away

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Depression is a strange thing to live with. For weeks at a time you can be struggling to even get up in the morning. It never really lifts, but there are days where I can put up with it, and kind of work around it. Days where I feel as normal as I can get. When I don’t feel like crying at all through the day, where I can speak to people without wanting to crawl into a dark corner for wasting their time. But whatever I feel, I do my best to get up and go to work. It’s the one thing I try to promise myself, to go to work, and at least I have achieved something no matter how crap the day ends up. Though I have phoned in sick, it doesn’t happen very regularly.

I work in a warehouse, and by looking at my blog title and things you’d notice that wasn’t my plan. But, needs must, and at least I know I have regular income. Unfortunately, not everyone sees jobs like that. Some people have a snobbish look at jobs that they view as ‘below’ them. And I have people asking me why I’d bother working at a warehouse. They imply that for a person to work there means that there is something wrong with that person. It’s almost like they are saying that a person has to be ‘stupid’ to work in this warehouse, and be content.

This should be an easy comment to brush off, because why should someone else’s opinion matter? But it does. It’s another reason to feel to feel like a failure. Like, it is a basic job, anyone can do it. I don’t add anything to the job, and no one would notice if I wouldn’t go back. My brain goes into this spiral where my thoughts are just berating everything that I do and how everything is just a waste of time. And it is honestly horrible. I have this instilled thought that I just waste people’s time, so just end up spending time alone. And to think that even the medial task of working a basic job is worthless, it just makes me want to hide from everything.

I am writing this after taking some thinking time over how bad attitudes about my job make me feel. I have tried to look around the negative feelings, and find something a bit better. The conclusion that I came to was that everyone expects things to be done for them. Whether you visit a coffee shop for a Mocha or clear out your rubbish bin, there is someone there that makes things happen. Someone makes your coffee, and someone collects all the rubbish to take to refuge. Everything that happens in modern day life happens because someone makes it happen. Even when you do things online, someone makes that dress you order get to your door. People make things happen, and without the people doing the medial tasks, things wouldn’t happen. At all. Every job has a purpose, every person has a purpose. Maybe rather than tearing apart those around us, we should recognise that people do shitty jobs and there is no shame in it. I need to remember that sometime.

‘Too Much For A Girl’

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I have previously posted what it means to do things ‘like a girl’ and it how it seems to mean that something is done poorly. That shouldn’t be the case, because women can do anything just as well as a man.

I was recently handling heavy items, which were mostly lawnmowers, cabinets and TVs. The consensus was that girls should have to life these heavy items, because men can do it better. I was kind of taken aback, I’ve always felt that what a person can and cannot do is decided by the person not themselves, not what sex they are.

If you have never lifted heavy things before, it is hard. Doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it. It means you work at it, and it becomes easier. The same as anything else in life. Don’t make feeble excuses that have been programmed into you by society. Have belief that you can do anything, because you can.

Over Whelmed

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

The world NEVER switches off. No matter what time of day it is where you are, it is ‘rush hour’ somewhere. 

It is something that used to amaze me when I was younger. That when I was asleep, people where at school, having meals and working away. When you get to that realisation, it opens you up to thinking about a world outside your own personal ‘bubble’. There is a whole new world full of different behaviours, thoughts and lifestyles out there that we can be completely oblivious happen to. 

Even as an adult, the idea that there are communities completely different to the one I grew up in, has the capacity to freak me out a little. It’s not that I am feeling weird about people having a different way of living than me, it is the sheer scale of the variety that is out there. It’s just that there are so many cultures in the world, that people spend their whole lives trying to learn about. And then, these cultures, they all have their own history, which is another lifetime worth of studies worth. 

I think it can seem a bit over whelming when you think that nobody knows everything about the world. It makes me feel rather insignificant. Which is not as negative as it seems. As well as making the successes in life seem immaterial in the grand scheme of things, it also makes the failures seem super-small. As a person who mostly focuses on the negative things in her life, the fact that it is so tiny and irrelevant in regards to global events, it sometimes makes me feel better. That people make it through worse than I do every day, so maybe I can do something about my life.

It staggers me sometimes, that I get overwhelmed with my life, and nothing of value really happens there. I couldn’t imagine if I had to control a country or something on a global scale, because I don’t know if my wee bubble will expand enough to let everything in that needs to be there. I stress out organising my own life, imagine organising life for thousands or even millions of people?

Conclusion: with my organisational skills, it is best that I stay single and shout at Paris Gellar on my ipad as I watch yet another episode of Gilmore Girls. That I can deal with. Not Paris, she annoys me in a way that I can only express as love to hate her. And, yes, I know that she is a fictional character. She provides my bubble world with a villain, where the hero is Yoshi who drives his stupid Kart slower than everyone else. No matter how much I press that ‘A’ button, he doesn’t go any faster. There is a metaphor for my life in there somewhere. 

Stay Away!

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes it is easier to close the doors, rather than letting the world in to see and judge the inner workings of your life. If a person is having problems with their own life, the last thing they feel they need is someone else putting in their own ‘two cents’ on the situation. Or something worse, you are told there ‘is no situation’. Which means, whatever you are unhappy about is not worth being unhappy about. I mean, who has the right to say what makes another person happy or sad?

But by keeping the outside world out, all that happens is you ‘bury the head in the sand’. And for a short time, maybe it seems to work. No one to question your behaviour, or asking ‘how you are’, and no lies need told to cover up your distress. You can work, and be a ‘strong person’, you can pass off the appearance that everything is okay. And the only reason that those around you, think you are okay is because you don’t let them close enough to see anything different.

This doesn’t solve any problems though. The feelings of anguish, and whatever caused the issue, are more than likely, still there. So all you have done is make it harder to talk to people, as you begin to see yourself as a burden. They have been happy without you sharing, so why worry them with your mess?
_____________

I act like this a lot. It seems easier to put my problems into a ‘no go’ area of my mind when it comes to talking to friends, in a bid to become normal. But, there is no such thing as ‘normal’, every person has their little flaws and positives. Nobody has an ‘easy life’ it is just the perception you can get as a by-stander. Some people can hide certain things from some, but they will have someone that they’ll confide in.

I have ‘locked people out’ and it has just made it harder find reason enough to turn to someone. It has left me alone with my problems. That’s where the Internet has come into play, it has been a place where I can talk through my issues without feeling I am being a burden. It maybe is not the best way to cope, but it has helped me think about my life in a healthier way than bottling it up.

What about you? Do you try to keep your issues to yourself? How do you cope if things get harder?

Where Does Free Speech End?

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

I am lucky.

If you are reading this, chances are, you are lucky too.

We are lucky because we live in a society where we have freedom of speech. We can speak our minds, for no fear of the consequences. Well, that is what we believe ‘free speech’ to be. But is it really? If it is okay to freely state what you believe, is it okay for you to believe that a person is an arsehole for being religious? Is it okay to think all feminists are just needing a good ‘shag’? That gay people, just need a ‘cure’? I will openly admit that these examples are extremes, but they are what some people feel they have the right to say and do. If we truely believe in ‘free speech’ surely the bad things should be just allowable as the good.

I personally believe that if your opinion does not dictate to or demean other individuals, then it is fine. The idea of freedom, is that it should be for the benifit of everyone around you, not just yourself. So true freedom of speech, in that case, wouldn’t be saying every little thing that came to your head. But one that encourages discussion and urges the better of society. The sharing of negative opinion, can do nothing but bring other people down, and in extreme cases, it can cause a lot of terrible issues.

But, the idea is also there that we should have the tolerance to let people say what they want. If you want to say and do what you wish, and let others do the same. Which is easy to understand and apply to our lives, but if it is then why do some people not apply those things. And if it effects the well-being of another person, should it really be allowed? Particularly if it makes the situation worse.

I don’t really know. This was just some pondering, but what do you think? Is freedom of speech something that can be fully achieved? I just don’t know.

Opinion Time

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Why does your opinion matter?

It’s because opinion is something that you create using your own thoughts and ideas. It’s something that can be really personal, and something that a person can really value.

So when someone disagrees with your opinion, it’s understandable to get defensive. You feel emotional attached to your opinion, and it feels like when someone attacks them, they attack you and what you believe in.

So remember that, when you come up with an opinion that you don’t agree with. That person has crafted their belief from their own thoughts and ideas. That makes their opinion just as important as yours. Treat it with the same respect as you expect your opinion to be.

If you don’t respect what others believe in, why should they respect you?

Initial Aspirations

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

When I started this blog, I had many ideas and thoughts of what I would use it for. It would be a creative blog, where I would post images of what I had made, and use it as a promotional tour for my business. In retrospect, I think I aimed a little high.

Firstly because being at college, and struggling through a few years of forced creativity, has lead to me going from one artistic mental block, to another. Secondly, I just am far too scatter brained to make my blog about one thing. I maybe should organise it better, but nothing in my life is very organised, so it maybe wouldn’t reflect ME if it wasn’t a bit of a mess. Some excuse, right?

I have always been an over thinker. A person who seeks importance in the most stupid and trivial things. My interests in things can get intense, but will also suddenly wane after a short period of time. I want to express my love and experience so many different things, that I always find myself looking for ‘something else’. Whilst some things such as favourite bands, movies and books will stay with me, I can’t exclusively care about a favourite thing. I think that liking new things can be a challenge, a challenge that should be welcomed.

Because I try to be interested in so many different things, I find that what I want to talk about changes every day. One day I will want to talk about Benji Madden sneaking into Scotland without my knowledge, the next day I’ll be talking about some political land mine. Whilst this leads to me being very sporadic, I like the idea that I have a place to express my thoughts in a accessible manner.

So whilst my initial plans for this blog haven’t come true, I still am happy with it. I have made this blog my online ‘home’ for the last few years, and I have become very attached to it. I find that WordPress is a great blog host, and find that is the best managed blogging site on the net. Trust me, I have tried almost every blogging site going. I like everything from the multiple platforms you can blog from, to the twitter feed. I think that the simplicity of using the service, has been crucial for me staying here for so long.

I guess I am feeling very retrospective. Whilst the majority of people I know say I waste my time writing a blog, I will always scoff in their faces. If a person has the freedom to express themselves without fear, no matter how they do it, they will never waste their time.

Love/hate

~ Sue ~ Leave a comment

Opinions. It is often said that ‘like assholes, everyone has one’.

And they do, every single person has their own mind, to help them decipher the world that we live in. Depending on a person’s experiences, their opinions will be different.

And I think that comes into play when you talk about likes/dislikes. Depending on where you are in life, what you do, who you are, you like different things. And a big part of you expressing love for something, you should appreciate that other people should have the same levels of expression that you do. So if you want to express your love for Metallica, your peers should be able to say that they love One Direction.

The other side to this is dislike. If you teach yourself to appreciate what other people like, then you should also appreciate each others’ hates. Likes and dislikes are not something decided to offend a certain person. Easy to understand, right?

You’d think so. But you will still get death threats for saying you don’t like a Lady Gaga album. This isn’t your fault. It is other people, who expect people to put up with their continuous love diatribes to a celebrity, but refuse to except that not everyone feels that way.

Acceptance is something I talk about a lot on here. Just because I think it is so importance. And I think that if I want my voice to be valued, I have to value the voice for others.

Cool Original

~ Sue ~ 1 Comment

What do you think is cool?

I ask, because no matter what you feel, there will always be someone out there who disagrees with you. Liking and disliking things are feelings that are part of our personality, part of what makes you, you.  I always remember being told as a kid, ‘if everyone liked the same thing, the world would be a boring place’. Which is true.

I am glad we don’t live in a world of clones, where everyone thinks the same things. I like the discussion with other people on a variety of topics. I like persuading people why a particular album or book is brilliant. I like the fact that people could recomend things that I may like. If we were all the same, then there would be none of that. And I think that it takes the excitement and sense of adventure out of life.

But with people having a difference of opinions, then there is also the people who don’t appreciate the free-will of others. They have the belief that their viewpoint is correct, and everyone else is in the wrong. And it is this lack of understanding which causes a lot of problem in our society. Be it religion or politics, peoples’ lack of understanding that other options exist causes wars and conflict. It is unnecessary. People have this part of their personality, which gives them the ability to comprimise and reason. Too many people do not employ these qualities, and prefer to dislike those who differ in thoughts to themselves. And think about it, to do that can lead to a person segregating themselves from everyone around them.

I guess I just think, that if I am allowed to think in a certain way, everyone else should be able to think they way they want to. Fair is fair.