Another tool we can all use!

I received a great email, and it was that same question that we all ask sometimes! Haha, how come our good friends spots and floaters didn't bother me for the last day\week\month\year\life!!! and how come yesterday was so great and they didn't bother me but today quite frankly they are really testing my patience.

I wish I knew!!! hahah, but I there is something extra I do know and it came to me while replying to a email from a fellow chosen one. The key factor here is stress will really wear down your armour, and if you are not constantly topping it up daily (which again I still struggle to do but am trying!! :) yes its my own fault I know!!!) then it really makes this great gift we all have to not so easy to see for what it is.

One thing I'm particularily good at is- if I get stressed out about any little thing, I tend to think of spots and floaters as the root of all my problems. Which I know they are not, but sometimes I can doubt myself if I'm run down or really worked up. E.g At the moment i've got a really annoying cough and generally feeling a bit sick, I had this killer headache - i was wondering why I felt so lousy and the thought popped into my head "spots\floaters - theres your answer right there" haha I mean you have to laugh because I know that they are not the explanation to why I feel lously at the moment, but when you are in one of those negative states - it can be quiet hard to try and come back with a convincing argument.

Unless!!! Unless you have some backup up your sleve - hoping that you won't need this step because you are scheduling daily ten minutes of relaxation - I thought about it more and then something else occured to me and I thought wow I could really use this in my life and hopefully your guys\gals can too.

If I have something else to keep my mind on, thinking about organizing an event or planning things to do for the day, it can
provide a nice distraction anytime. I've found that it really is only possible to concentrate on one thinking item at a time, so when the spots\floaters 'woe is me' record starts playing, put the needle through it and put that jukebox on shuffle!! :D Almost like one of those old movies when you are confronted with something you don't really like but you get to yell out "whats that over there!" and then sneak into a side alley!

My way of saying "whats that over there" when you start getting worked up about your eyes - and I've done it plenty of times that downward spiral, you really gotta cut it off - suddenly your thinking that the world hunger wouldn't exist without spots and floaters - say "Hey whats that over there!" ... well you don't actually have to say that (you can if you want too!!) haha, but
this is where you need to creat a diversion, and getting back to my original question - at X time I felt great, well I can almost guarantee that at X time, you were probably looking forward to something, you were engrossed in something and basically you were zoned out. Because sometimes I think the frustrating thing with spots and floaters is not being able to lose yourself in the moment sometimes, its like you feel like your've drawn the short straw and your pulling a double shift "hey I just want to relax here" ... thats why if you are going through a stressful time or whatever your circumstances are - book in some time in your day to do a hobby, play music, play a sport, anything that involves some problem solving, teamwork, repitition.

Something you can loose yourself in, because it is so important in life, not to be 'here' for every second of everyday - theres nothing wrong with it, but hey time flyes when your having fun - and if you are worked up then times going to drag!! Book that event, go for that walk, read that paper, hit the beach - all these things that sound sometimes a bit scary to be honest, seriously it has never once been as bad as I felt it in my mind. Whats that great quote by that person "I've lived through some terrbile events in my life ... and some of them actually happened!"

Hope that makes sense somehow, because it is possible to be in that frame of mind like you were in when spots and floaters were exactly the same, but it didn't worry you. Therefore when you think of that time when things were so great, ask yourself ... what great things were happening then, what was I involved in, were there things in my day that I completely got in the zone and lost myself. Secondly, lets scedule some of those things today!!

Anyhow!! I've waffled on again, but to recap in my previous blogs and todays - the following is essesential.
Getting out of your comfort zone, scheduling daily relaxation, zoning out through an activity\event, realising that there are always good and bad days - and on the bad days to really treat yourself and reward yourself for being such a soldier!

Until next time, I'm going to be trying this stuff out too, so any question\comment or ya just wanna have a catch up then please email me at floatbusters@gmail.com

Floaters schmoaters! :P
Paul

Gotta have that soft place to fall!

Wow, things have been going well on my contract - its currently finished up so I am on the look out again. Getting out of my comfort zone REALLY helps, so much so that i couldn't really believe. I guess its great to have parts of your day when you haven't got tooo much time to think about things. This got me onto another thought I've had, and people that email me have experienced it also. Why do some days spots\floaters bother you and then the next day they dont?? Haha, far out if I knew this - I wish I could figure it out, I guess its just like everyone has good and bad days, some days you wake up with the feeling "This is going be an amazing day woohoo!!" and then some other days everything seems to go wrong and you think "this is not going to be an amazing day!!" haha. Anyhow, today being one of those days for me, I guess a biggie for me is that certainty factor. this is a thought I had that helped me and I hope can help everyone reading this too.

The point is that on these bad days, you NEED to have a place where you can go and put down the sword, take off the armour and just be yourself. Its somewhere if your at work or college - things may be getting a bit rough, and if your like me your feeling frustrated and you start to get in that endless loop. Thats when you hit back with the secret weapon, not sure if you have seen Happy Gilmore, but thats when its time to go to your "happy place" :D.

And it can't just be somewhere in your head, it has to be somewhere - either when you get home, or some other place that it is certain will be tranquil, and you've done it before so just the thought that you will be there, can disarm the current situation no matter how bad it seems.

For me, and I guess it will differ for everyone - Get Cosy!! its amazing how much the way you physically feel effects your mind state, so number one get cosy!!! I'm talking slippers, track pants, hot water bottle, comfy sweater! The works, really go all out. Then I will sit down somewhere, normally on the floor - with a sleeping bag on the floor or something similar. Then put on some good background music, now this sounds crazy but my favorite DVD to put on for the music is "The Princess Bridge" ... Ol' Mark Knopfler at his best!! ... seriously put that on in the background and I find daily life slips away!! ... and then just quiet your mind and breathing for around ten minutes. I've covered the whole relaxation thing in an earlier blog but thats the basic concept. I really have noticed that something amazing happens, just to have that place, and whenever you are out on the battlefield just to think about it when your having a bad day\ rough time with it. I find that when I'm out and about, just the thought that I "am" going to be there later, gives me a great feeling of re-assurance. Give it a whirl!! :D

Also while we are on the princess bride, sometimes when ya out and about - the thought of that home happy place is great but you just need a bit of an edge while you are there ... theres a great bit in that movie when he keeps repeating that phrase "My name is eneego mentoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" ... I really love that scene so sometimes i will say to myself "spots and floaters affect my life ni, they are irrelevant" .. or something along those lines! So make sure you have a quick fire phrase to say to yourself if you need it, that can tie you over until you can recharge in your happy place!!

hahah, ok well I hope that makes sense - just a few thoughts I had which I'm using and I hope can make a difference to someone out there, really appreciate you taking the time out to read this. And always feel free to email me if ya need someone to talk to! Thanks again and get working on your Happy Gilmore "Happy Place!" hehe :D