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Harnessing negative emotions.

Hi Sean,

I was thoughtfully given a copy of Volume 1 by a friend who is concerned about my  severe depression. I lost my mother a year ago and I'm British living in the United States and I miss my home country and friends desperately. I have no energy and lack motivation and creativity. In short I'm struggling to find my "purpose" in life. I'm jealous of my friends who stayed in the UK and who have lives I see as being so much better than mine. I'm lonely and as an only child I feel a sense of guilt at not being in the UK when my Mum passed away.

Anyway, I cannot put your book down! For some reason I have a strong feeling this will give me the tools to navigate life well and finally be happy. I'm on page 91 and was reading about the brain thinking and identifying an emotion being experienced, lessening the negative reaction to it. I was texting my best friend of 52 years (known since birth) and I identified that I was feeling jealous about a group trip to Edinburgh that a whole bunch of them are having next week.  Identifying and acknowledging the feeling did make it seem less upsetting to me.

My mind wanders a bit, I have ADD, so some concepts are slow to register but I'm hoping as I continue reading that I can start to implement the behaviors talked about in the book, into my daily life. I bloody hope so anyway, since I have enough self-help books to start a library!

Thank you Sean, for sharing your work with me.

Sincerely,

Julie Borski.