Posts by Charles Young56

Sarah Ross21 said:Positive affirmations and just convincing yourself everything is fine works wonders.🙂

👍

I guess it’s good to know there are a few others out there doing the same thing. 😉

Sophia Carter said:Does anyone have any actual advice on how to do the internal work required to think more positively? Ideally, I’m looking for a technique to shift subconscious patterns and deep-seated beliefs. I’ve tried Kundalini yoga, journaling, and meditation. While the yoga and meditation offer some temporary relief, they don't touch the root. They don't help me untangle the subconscious mental loops and convictions that prevent me from expressing myself or just living a functional life. As for journaling, it honestly just makes me feel more depressed because I end up staring at my own thoughts with no way to fix them. Talking to a therapist or psychiatrist is fine, but it feels useless when I already know exactly what's wrong with me. On a conscious level, I get it—I see the flaws—but I'm not being guided by my conscious mind. Instead, I'm being driven by a subconscious that was left entirely at the mercy of my parents. Now, I find myself constantly choosing terrible things for myself for all the wrong reasons, only realizing it after the damage is done. My outlook on the world is pretty bleak; my thoughts feel like a black hole, and frankly, I lack the energy to "force" positivity. Has anyone dealt with something similar? Any advice or methods that actually helped you break free from this depressive, black-and-white thinking and stop the self-destructive cycles that lead nowhere? Thanks.

Repeating positive affirmations and chanting mantras. 👍
Give it a shot. It helped me quite a bit, though I wasn't really in the same boat you are, but hey, you might as well try... nothing to lose, I guess. 🙂

Just looking for someone to chat with, nothing heavy or high-pressure.

If you're down, I guess just reach out. 🙂

Well, here I am too
Time to come clean. 😁

Linda Johnson15 said:In my opinion, it never actually happens—people just end up putting on an act to mask who they really are...
I’m not talking about growing up, obviously; you need time to find yourself as you mature...

Every change I've seen in people I know is usually just them playing a part until they finally can't hold it together anymore, or they just relax and their true self slips out...

Yeah, there’s way too much acting going on.

It feels like we’re all just living on some massive stage filled with terrible actors performing an even worse play.

Jacob Mitchell3 said:How does one maintain any semblance of optimism when life feels like being dropped into a horror movie without a script? We are thrown into this chaos without guidance or instructions, forced to endure the friction of our own existence and the presence of others, all while being subject to the cold, indifferent laws of nature. In the end, we all face the same inevitable conclusion: death, leaving behind no answers and vanishing as if we had never been here at all. What is there left to hope for? There are no happy endings written in the stars...

Life is really just whatever you make of it and how you choose to see it.
It’s not some horror show, I mean, why would it be? Even if things are terrible right now—whether it’s your health, your bank account, or whatever else is going wrong—that doesn't mean things will stay this way forever. Life changes. It shifts. When you're in pain, it doesn't hurt at the exact same intensity forever; eventually, it passes and things get better.

I guess you have eyes and a brain for a reason, right? To observe, to think, basically to learn. You learn from books or from making mistakes—your own or watching others screw up—but the main thing is just moving forward. Just try not to make the same stupid mistake twice.

And honestly, it depends on what kind of answer you're looking for.
Just live and let live, you know? Stop overthinking stuff that's totally out of your control.
You're just stressing yourself out over nonsense.
Maybe try switching to a more useful headspace.
Think about how you can actually make things better for yourself right now.
Just stay in the moment.

Is there going to be anything happening out in the Midwest?

I’d say I’m a pretty positive person, mostly.
If something happens that sucks—like, I don't know, some physical pain or whatever—I just tell myself it's temporary. It won't last forever, it'll pass.
Because if the good stuff eventually passes you by, then I guess the bad stuff has to pass through too. Makes sense, right?
After the rain comes the sunshine... that’s just how I look at life, I suppose.

And from what I've seen, you really can develop on your own. Definitely.
Just read more books. And honestly, there are tons of useful articles here on this forum where you can pick up some advice on how to change things up.

How to be a good person without getting stepped on

I guess it all really boils down to who you're hanging out with and where you decide to draw the line with your own kindness.
Sometimes, honestly, you just have to be a little rude.

Thanks for all the replies and the advice.

I finally managed to get an appointment scheduled with a physiatrist, though I have to wait a few months for my follow-up, so I guess I'll just see how things play out then.