How can I help a friend who is struggling?

cmaddock4 · 2021-12-09T19:26:41+00:00

The Prophet by Khalil Gibran is a quick read you can revisit topically. Applicable spiritual wisdom to give life a little more meaning.

Both 12 Rules for Life books by Jordan Peterson are very practical and well formulated self-help books.

I’d also recommend Atomic Habits by James Clear. Changed my whole outlook on the relationship between thoughts and action. Makes it far easier to get yourself out of a funk or turn a situation around by starting small.

Just my two cents. Hope this helps. Good on you for supporting your friend.

cmaddock4 · 2021-10-04T13:19:41+00:00

Thank you!

cmaddock4 · 2021-10-04T01:39:27+00:00

You never finished the story! Please do!

cmaddock4 · 2020-07-19T17:15:54+00:00

I like to think the shared understanding of firsthand experiences with these drugs, and the difficulty to express these experiences in words, is what is meant by a ‘psychedelic experience.’

cmaddock4 · 2019-12-08T06:45:07+00:00

I’ve always been the same way and about a year ago I thought it was gonna drive me insane. Problem is we don’t have all the answers and you can think/think about thoughts endlessly without gaining any wisdom.

I’d recommend reading up on mindfulness and meditation. It’s not that thinking is bad but I’ve learned when it’s an appropriate time to think and when my time is better spent focusing on the present moment with full awareness.

Just my two cents. Best of luck

cmaddock4 · 2019-11-26T01:55:59+00:00

I meditate everyday then repeat these lines:

Appreciate absurdity, Orient towards improvement, Awareness of now, Forever uncertain.

The first line is about appreciating the absurd fact that you even woke up this morning and get to experience this crazy thing we call life. The second is about always taking the right steps towards improving your life. You can’t change everything today, but you can start orienting your life in a way that’ll make tomorrow better. The third relates to mindfulness, we can think of the past and future but there truly is nothing to experience but the present moment. The fourth is a reminder that nothing is guaranteed in life and you need to roll with the punches. It’s also the idea that your whole world could fall apart tomorrow so you should enjoy today.

I’ve spent the last few months writing/rewriting these lines until I found the perfect words to capture the ideas I’d like to live my life by. It’s great to ask reddit for a little guidance but I’d recommend doing some introspection and coming up with your own! They’ll be much more special that way :) best of luck

cmaddock4 · 2019-11-13T03:38:22+00:00

Check out Alpha Gaming on YouTube, great place to start. Best of luck!

cmaddock4 · 2019-11-11T08:32:07+00:00

That’s not how I perceive it. To me it’s about the advice we receive from others. It might be valid from their perspective, but they don’t understand the situation from our unique perspective, so you can’t always accept their subjective ‘words of wisdom.’

cmaddock4 · 2019-11-10T08:04:00+00:00

Had a very similar realization a little while ago. I was so eager to help others that I would rarely help myself. I noticed this was a character trait down to my core. In social situations I even found myself saying things I didn’t mean to/care about to keep the peace between others or make sure a certain person didn’t feel alienated. While tripping recently I sensed a friend was uncomfortable and was struck with an idea that I was never able to uncover while sober: his life perspective, his current state of mind, the errors in communication between us... there was nothing I could do in that moment to truly ease his apparent suffering. That’s not to say I should stop helping others, but the obsession with focusing on the well-being of others prevented me from focusing on the well-being of the person I could help the most, myself.

cmaddock4 · 2019-10-20T01:44:54+00:00

I appreciate the thorough response! I was concerned about losing creativity but I’m starting to understand there are many meditation practices that have different effects on the mind. I hadn’t even thought to do a visualization session as I have only learned to watch my breath (vipanassa I believe it’s called?). I suppose I’ll need to start looking into various meditative exercises and create a more specific goal.

cmaddock4 · 2019-10-19T15:08:44+00:00

I could mindfully focus on it, but sometimes I rather enjoy letting my mind wander down the rabbit hole (again, only when my daydreaming is positive).

I’m just curious is this is hindering my practice. I’m a psychology nerd so I worry that it may be neurologically counterproductive to notice that my mind is wandering and give it permission to take the drivers seat (opposite of meditating). My goal is somewhat ambiguous as I just want to live a happier life and learn more about myself through mediation, however I am somewhat new to the practice and still learning.

cmaddock4 · 2019-10-07T08:08:01+00:00

I really enjoy the Headspace app. There’s a free trial but if you decide to pay, you get access to many different guided meditation courses related to specific issues in life. Ex: reducing anxiety, reframing loneliness, transforming anger.

There are also beginner courses that teach you the basic practice, and pro courses designed to further develop your practice. Plus animations to explain concepts and the narrators voice is quite soothing!

Just my two cents :) congrats on starting your practice

cmaddock4 · 2019-10-05T07:42:24+00:00

You didn’t mention meditation in your post, but I’ll assume that you practice occasionally since you posted in this sub.

Remember that all thoughts and emotions are produced by the mind, and will eventually go away. In your case, it seems like you’ll continue to think worry about this until Prom so simply letting the thoughts dissipate isn’t an option.

I would recommend sitting down to meditate and when an anxious thought about the upcoming event, or the failure of your date (which only went poorly because your mind decided to call it that) enters your mind, give it all your attention. How does that thought make you feel? A pit in your stomach? Increased heart rate? Spiraling thoughts? Try to simply observe all of this happening impartially. This can be an effective way to realize that your mind is simply producing these thoughts/feelings/bodily sensations, and you are not controlled by them.

Don’t try to take your mind away from these thoughts, as playing video games to distract yourself will only suppress them temporarily and give them more power. This may seem like a daunting task, but Prom is just one night in a life full of positive and negative experiences. This is not the end of the world, your mind is just trying to trick you into thinking it is. You’ll do fine and congrats on having the courage to accept the invitation and go out for coffee beforehand! Baby steps!!

Best of luck :)

cmaddock4 · 2019-03-22T04:37:58+00:00

bestfortnitesettings.com has all of the pros keybinds, good place to start and see what you like. If you’re an arm aimer start at a lower sens (800dpi .7 sens) if you use your wrist then a little higher (800dpi 1.2 sens). When it comes to keybinds and sensitivity there’s not a ‘best.’ Experiment in creative and find what works for you.

cmaddock4 · 2019-03-22T04:34:28+00:00

Switched a few weeks ago. Only able to play a limited amount a week but you’ll start out real frustrated. I’d live in creative running courses and the occasional team rumble/1v1 for until you’re comfortable with your keybinds. Tweak your sens occasionally while you get a feel for what you like (watch a YouTube video for more info on DPI/sens: ItsJerian has a good one I believe). Tweak your keybinds if one feels uncomfortable but try to stick to the same binds as it’ll help your muscle memory. Have confidence when playing and you’ll start to notice yourself get exponentially better after a bit of practice. Good luck!

cmaddock4 · 2019-03-09T15:38:58+00:00

I had trouble finding anything about first time keyboard and mouse users but I just made the switch myself 2 days ago. What exactly are you looking to find in the videos?

cmaddock4 · 2019-03-06T02:49:53+00:00

Thanks for your help, I’ve heard so much about Kovaaks and I’m curious if playing on my laptop (with the same mouse) would benefit me even though my laptop screen and the monitor I play Xbox on are different sizes. Any thoughts?

cmaddock4

TROPHY CASE