Weird Week, Okay Day

The good thing: for the first time in a good long while, my fear of getting a cold seems to have mellowed out a bit. I've been going to meetings without fear and touching paperwork from other people without feeling an urge to wash my hands afterward. I had a meeting about grant writing at the health clinic yesterday, and drove by my sister's house site (again), this time in the rain.

But I've also been doing a lot of general ruminating, revolving mostly around other people either being mad at me or thinking badly of me. Today, I had a miscommunication with a coworker, but I didn't realize it. By the time I did, it wasn't possible to clear it up. For a couple of hours, my mind stewed on the fact that she might think I was a bad person. (The miscommunication involved a cupcake. Really. This blog has made me aware of the large role baked goods play in my life. Who knew?)

Anyway, at lunchtime, while eating my cupcake, I looked on an OCD forum, and found people discussing just letting feelings like that hang around: not trying to get rid of them, but also not giving them more attention than they deserve. Just treating it like any of the hundreds of thoughts that pass through my head on any given day. That's easier said than done, of course, but it's actually worked quite well today. I've been able to apply it to a similar worry that's been hanging around for a few days. So, all in all, a decent day. If only the stomach flu weren't going around...

Goals for the Week

Not quite sure what to post this week.

I'm still in that "doing fairly well, but still feeling mighty stressed" place.

Last night I rode the bus home from a social event. There's a homeless shelter at the end of my bus route. Most of the people, you wouldn't even know that's where they were headed, if you didn't know it was there. But sometimes the people are pretty unkempt, and some are drunk. Last night I encountered 4 of those, plus it was pouring, and two of them had terrible coughs. A difficult ride.

Anyway, my goals:
Continue to ride the bus.
Go to the grocery store- for some reason I've been avoiding it lately.
Social events M,W,F- don't cancel any.
Fix flat on my bike, and ride to work one day if not too cold.

This list doesn't feel quite complete, but I'm not sure what else would go on it.

I guess another goal is to work actively (rather than simply reading) my Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety book.