Quote:
Originally Posted by toc
Hello ice inspacers - long time no post  What follows is a weird question I guess, but I know that there are a lot of people here in my age bracket - 40-60
The last year I have been experiencing a really profound feeling of uncertainly and unhappiness. It comes and goes. I am questioning who I am, and what I am doing - who I am married to, my job (especially my job), you name it, I am questioning it. Even my politics have started to move gradually to the right
Is it possible to go though life without these upheavals? My gut is telling me that only good can come from it, especially since I feel I have been plodding along for a few decades, but there is always that feeling that I might make a rash decision, and regret it later. That is life I guess. I am having a pretty rough time at work, and am thinking of trying something else but at this late stage in life I feel my options are pretty limited.
Feel free to ignore, but your thoughts might make me feel better at least  (and yes I know I am a whinny little turd who has more than most of the the planets humans and I should be greatful!) |
Yes, there are many things in life which are not as you would like them to be and they may indeed be frustrating, annoying and disappointing. These are healthy negative emotions - healthy in that you can still choose to do something about the issues, or choose to accept them. But if because of your thinking, they turn to anger, anxiety or depression and subsequent unhappiness, then those are unhealty negative emotions - as you are stuck, you can't do anything about them.
I had my rut years ago, and hooked onto reading Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy, I read several books on the subject, ingrained their message into my thinking, so that I changed a lot of internal "I should" and "I must" in my thinking to "I wish" or "I prefer", and wound up a lot less stressed and happier. In most cases, there is little reason to be unhappy, though one may not be as happy as one wishes.
As luck would have it, one of the best books on the subject ("Three Minute Therapy") is available free on the internet, by clicking the chapters along the left hand side of the site. Though I find it easier to read it in book form.
http://www.threeminutetherapy.com/
I think it one of the best books because it has lots of examples.
Regards,
Renato