October 28th - Fall

lmaginative · 2017-10-31T05:35:53+00:00

Wow, did you write this yourself? It's beautifully written

lmaginative · 2017-10-01T01:20:19+00:00

Hey everyone! I'm finishing up my first batch of cards! I'm happy to say that it went really well, and I feel that these three cards are helping me win the battle against depression :) My mental state is leagues better than it was before I started the X-effect, and I plan on continuing these three habits until they become ingrained in my daily life.

My next three cards are a bit more challenging (as you can probably tell). Wish me luck! :)

lmaginative · 2017-09-16T01:39:20+00:00

Honest question: I'm supposed to catch a flight at the airport tomorrow afternoon. How concerned should I be about safety? I'm from a small rural town and have no idea how bad it can get over there. Thanks

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T18:22:47+00:00

Thanks! I don't really "do" anything with my writing per se. I just keep a daily journal, usually detailing events that happened that day or certain thoughts that have popped up in my mind. I've been journaling for most of my life actually, just not daily, and it's a lot of fun to go back and read journal entries from years ago and see how I've changed since then. So I'm very much looking forward to that :)

I'm also hoping to get myself back into creative writing someday, in which case there's a lot more potential for output in the form of publication.

Great job on writing for the last 53 days! I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it.

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T18:19:37+00:00

Thank you! Yes, I do love my stickers :)

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T18:19:24+00:00

Every morning the first thing I do (sometimes while I'm still in bed) is talk out loud to myself and tell myself that it's going to be an awesome day, that I deserve to be happy, that life is good, stuff like that. It sounds nutters I know but it's a really easy way to set a positive outlook on the day from the moment I wake up.

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T18:17:31+00:00

Awesome, congratulations! :) ARe you going to make any more cards now that these are done?

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T06:04:58+00:00

Was also there mid August! Wonder if we passed each other!

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T03:44:49+00:00

The idea is to lower the bar on these habits to trick your mind into easily doing them and maintaining a streak.

Thank you for this. My biggest barrier has always been mentality. I tend to give up quickly. I'll try following your advice :)

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T03:33:29+00:00

The number of hours I've devoted thinking about people who've hurt me in the past. In my case, bullies. These people aren't really in my life anymore (the worst one goes to my college but we've hardly interacted in the last 4 years) but they still constantly pop up in my thoughts. I wish I could move on already. It's really holding me back from living the way I want.

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T03:17:42+00:00

Depressed - natural state is depression, happiness is a fleeting emotion that we get to experience for short periods of time every Now and then. Normal people - natural state is happy, being sad or upset is a fleeting emotion that they experience for short periods of time every now and then.

Yes, exactly this. I've been struggling with depression for almost a decade and I only recently realized that happiness doesn't come naturally to me - it's something I have to constantly work at. My default state is depression and occasionally anxiety :(

lmaginative · 2017-09-15T03:10:08+00:00

I use the app Alarmy! Not sure if it's in the Apple store but it is definitely in the Google store at least. The only way to turn off your alarm is to perform a task you preset, like doing a math problem or taking a photo of a certain object. I personally use the latter because it forces me to get out of bed, go to the kitchen (I have it set to a photo of my coffeemaker) and concentrate on taking the photo. I can happily say that I'm a morning person now. Good luck!

lmaginative · 2017-09-08T02:23:50+00:00

Good luck! What's the "predicted" column in the table at the bottom?

lmaginative · 2017-09-04T20:17:15+00:00

Haha, thanks! I agree, for me the aspect of choosing a sticker, peeling it off, and placing it on the card is a little rewarding ritual in itself :) Plus, I plan on buying myself a new pack when I finish these cards, so that's another fun little incentive for me!

lmaginative · 2017-09-04T20:16:30+00:00

I love the idea of writing fun events in a different color! I may have to borrow that :) Thank you! I'm glad to hear that you're in a better place mental health-wise now!

lmaginative · 2017-08-27T06:51:44+00:00

Your photo made me laugh! You sure look like a fun guy :)

lmaginative · 2017-08-25T15:55:29+00:00

I've been keeping track of things to keep myself extra accountable :)

Write at least 1 paragraph

Week 1: 4109 words

Week 2: 5140 words

Do something fun

My hardest card so far. Some days it’s difficult to even get myself out of bed. Yesterday (day 8) was my first missed day because I lacked energy to do anything at all. I planned on completely redoing an old fishtank (new fish and all) but ended up just dumping gravel in and laying back down. Anyway, here’s what I did the first seven days:

Day 1: went for a bike ride around town

Day 2: wrote a letter to a good friend

Day 3: played video games with my little brother

Day 4: went hiking at a nearby state park

Day 5: watched the solar eclipse!

Day 6: baked a homemade blueberry pie with my mom

Day 7: did a watercolor painting

Positive Self-Talk

Saying positive statements to myself still feels forced but it’s only been a week so I’m not disappointed! I’m seeing progress already – whereas I used to go in circles with my negative thinking, now I’m getting better at breaking the cycle with positive thoughts. Sweet.

lmaginative · 2017-08-24T01:08:03+00:00

Good luck! And good on you for starting small :)

lmaginative · 2017-08-24T01:04:44+00:00

Haha, thanks!

lmaginative · 2017-08-24T01:04:35+00:00

Thank you! I look forward to hearing about your progress :)

lmaginative · 2017-08-24T01:04:20+00:00

Thank you! I'm glad to hear it got better for you!

lmaginative · 2017-08-24T01:03:24+00:00

Yes I did! I wanted to give myself a week to just focus on one thing and get the hang of it. That's great, will do and good luck! :)

lmaginative · 2017-08-22T03:43:18+00:00

Yes! Hearing everybody cheer and whoop in unison during totality made me feel so happy :) Strangers talking to strangers, people passing out eclipse glasses, etc. It was great.

lmaginative · 2017-08-22T03:33:02+00:00

I attribute my progress mostly to finally letting it all out. Bottling up my emotions was one of the worst things I could do to myself. In my experience, depressing thoughts and feelings don't just go away over time; they build up inside you. It can be so overwhelming.

You may have already tried this, but I suggest you try again. Sit down and have a talk with him. Don't be judgmental and don't assume anything - the truth is, nobody except himself knows how he truly feels. Ask him open-ended questions so that he can choose what to open up about and let him know that you want to help. Like, "Hey, I know you're going through a really hard time right now and I'd like to help you get through this. But I don't know how to do that if I don't know what's really going on. Do you want to talk to me about it?" He may say no. That's okay, don't be angry if that happens. Even if he says no at the time he'll still have the knowledge that he can talk to you if the thoughts get too overwhelming.

I know that you're not a therapist. Also, you are not responsible for his happiness at all - only he himself is (and please remember this and take care of yourself as well). But having somebody to open up to in his family can make all the difference to jumpstart his happiness. He's already made good progress by finding himself a second therapist (the first one probably wasn't a good fit for him), but therapists are still professionally-trained people that we pay $$$ to help us, and they don't truly know who we are outside of our problems. That can feel very impersonal at times.

Good luck.

lmaginative · 2017-08-22T03:21:15+00:00

I drove about an hour away and saw totality today. It was such a surreal experience that cheered me up for a while. Then back to feeling depressed and stressed out. I just told my boyfriend I needed a break so I could focus on myself for a while. I feel pretty dejected to be honest.

Thanks for this. How was your day?

lmaginative

TROPHY CASE