What I did today - for small achievements and cheers

[Alex652]

I've applied for a graduate scheme with Transport for London. There will be probably hundreds of candidates, but I've got nothing to lose by just applying for it.

[Pal]

Originally Posted by Alex652

I've applied for a graduate scheme with Transport for London. There will be probably hundreds of candidates, but I've got nothing to lose by just applying for it.

Good attitude

[buttonlane]

Saw an advertisment for a muay thai class on Monday in another village and the class was tonight. The guy that runs it was a 3 time world champion and undefeated british champion. Plenty of world champs have come out of his stable as well. Potentially a very intimidating place to walk into without having SA. I've been wanting to go to something like this for years but SA has always held me back. Thought f*ck it, im going......So I went.

Loved it. Nervous and insecure for a bit but that vanished half way through. Felt right at home despite my social awkwardness.

"You catch on quick!"


Another big challenge tomorrow......Toastmasters. Out of my depth but I dont give a f*ck. Lets do this.

[iTz0kt0Bu]

Work experience, I've met another shop assistant who says they use to have SA and I get on with him well. I get on with a few of the other assistants as well.

[MrsF]

Originally Posted by CaveGirl

I had to spend an hour and a half with some workman type which i'd been dreading all week.

I made him laugh , joked about Chippendales and spoke about most things from technology to a horror story involving a local hospital.
He turned up an hour later for some signatures and made a joke about how I was his favorite and he hadn't had a conversation like that in ages. Not sure what he meant but it was small victory as I rarely talk to people outside of formal stuff at the moment.

YAY!!!!!

[MrsF]

Originally Posted by retep

Work experience, I've met another shop assistant who says they use to have SA and I get on with him well. I get on with a few of the other assistants as well.

Go you!

[MrsF]

Originally Posted by buttonlane

Saw an advertisment for a muay thai class on Monday in another village and the class was tonight. The guy that runs it was a 3 time world champion and undefeated british champion. Plenty of world champs have come out of his stable as well. Potentially a very intimidating place to walk into without having SA. I've been wanting to go to something like this for years but SA has always held me back. Thought f*ck it, im going......So I went.

Loved it. Nervous and insecure for a bit but that vanished half way through. Felt right at home despite my social awkwardness.

"You catch on quick!"


Another big challenge tomorrow......Toastmasters. Out of my depth but I dont give a f*ck. Lets do this.

Way to go....and good luck with the toast...hope it doesn't burn at the edges!

[Marie8434]

I was invited for coffee (to a coffee shop). Instead of making an excuse I actually went. I gabbled on a bit and spoke too much, but the important thing is I went. Maybe I will get better at listening rather than speaking if I can manage to get more practice.

[buttonlane]

Originally Posted by MrsF

Way to go....and good luck with the toast...hope it doesn't burn at the edges!

Thanks


Good day today. Met up with the drama therapist for a chat, went well, I was calm and relaxed for the most part. Then straight to the Anxiety group. Again calm and relaxed, Spoke more than I normaly do. Yeah had a brief moment of anxiety but in general I was fine. I feel like Im improving, Im alot more relaxed when Im out. The hard work is paying off.


Another combat sport thingy tonight. never been to this one but its something new. I'll be around strangers, learning something and gettin fit. Should be anxiety provoking but thats the point. Looking forward to it.

I feel positive and optimistc about a my future. Feel like Im growing. My goals are big, aims are sky high but I can f*cking do this.

*Weirdo alert*
This might sound Strange but..... something good is going to happen to me towards the end of the month/early feb. I sense it.

[OllyAvoid]

I have read all 53 pages in this thread - that is an achievement, I would think. It has showed to me quite vividly how everyone is at a different point in their journey to deal with SA. Some are doing things I cannot imagine, while others seem more similar to the position that I am in; but the point is that whatever stage people are at, they are making positive steps, however small (or large) to change their lives and challenge SA rather than giving up and opting for avoidance.

So congratulations to you lot.

My achievement has been that I am committed to taking up therapy again after many years. I have been thinking and writing about what I want to achieve out of therapy and deciding what questions to ask a therapist so that I make sure I find someone who I am comfortable with and who I like their approach and style and feel I could work with. Next thing is to start making appointments.

Also I have been more actively thinking about what I can sensibly attempt in the near future rather than just drifting along in a haze of tv and films and games and crisps as is my usual mode.

[MrsF]

^ well done! Keep us posted...a haze of crisps sounds tempting!

[Mr_Bean]

played snooker on my own. And first time I've played that in 10 years.

[Sooty Owl]

I spoke in a seminar at university. We split up into two small groups for an exercise, I contributed to the exercise, made my opinions heard. Then when we had the full class discussion, I spoke directly to the lecturer with everyone staring at me, and not only made a point, but a relevant one that she made a note of on the whiteboard.

Considering seminar contribution accounts for 10% of my final grade, I'm thrilled I can finally, in the third year, be on my way to not get my usual 0%

[buttonlane]

1. Getting my arse out of bed at 7 in the morning is normally a monumental task for me. I'm starting to catch those negative energy sapping thoughts and replacing them with more of a winners mentality. Feel really good today. *thumbs*
2. Had to get up early to see my therapist. I was so chilled this morning. zero anxiety on my 40 min walk. No anxiety for most of my day. It feels odd not having SA when I'm out. Starting to wonder if this is what 'normal' feels like. Felt f*cking amazin walking about, chest out, not a care in the world, Ken Barlow hair cut in-toe. Just need to sought out my problem in groups now.
3. Art class today. The young member of the group with Aspergers turns to me with a smile on his face and says. ''I'm glad your my Art Teacher.''

[MrsF]

Loving the small achievements - well done button lane and sooty owl

[Olly.]

Originally Posted by Sooty Owl

I spoke in a seminar at university. We split up into two small groups for an exercise, I contributed to the exercise, made my opinions heard. Then when we had the full class discussion, I spoke directly to the lecturer with everyone staring at me, and not only made a point, but a relevant one that she made a note of on the whiteboard.

Considering seminar contribution accounts for 10% of my final grade, I'm thrilled I can finally, in the third year, be on my way to not get my usual 0%

Ah the dreaded seminar contribution %, I had that a few times at uni as well, well done, it certainly can be daunting speaking up

[David K]

Originally Posted by Sooty Owl

I spoke in a seminar at university. We split up into two small groups for an exercise, I contributed to the exercise, made my opinions heard. Then when we had the full class discussion, I spoke directly to the lecturer with everyone staring at me, and not only made a point, but a relevant one that she made a note of on the whiteboard.

Considering seminar contribution accounts for 10% of my final grade, I'm thrilled I can finally, in the third year, be on my way to not get my usual 0%

Nice going! Seminars can be really difficult. I've done modules where seminar attendance counts, but not seminar contribution. I still didn't get 10% because I skipped a few.

[Morgana]

I stayed away from a couple of web forums to stop getting stressed about them. I miss the people on them, but I need to relax and readjust my priorities, and stop being so dependent on those websites to buoy me up.

[Olly.]

^ What forums were they? But yeah, web forums can be far too addictive and I've certainly spent far too much of life on them in the past 5 years. Yet I still haven't really made any friends on any of them and bar perhaps this one, am completely anonymous, don't know why I bother really

[Morgana]

Music ones. I do like them and I've had some great chats with the people there, but I also get very stressed.

[OllyAvoid]

Originally Posted by buttonlane

1. Getting my arse out of bed at 7 in the morning is normally a monumental task for me. I'm starting to catch those negative energy sapping thoughts and replacing them with more of a winners mentality. Feel really good today. *thumbs*
2. Had to get up early to see my therapist. I was so chilled this morning. zero anxiety on my 40 min walk. No anxiety for most of my day. It feels odd not having SA when I'm out. Starting to wonder if this is what 'normal' feels like. Felt f*cking amazin walking about, chest out, not a care in the world, Ken Barlow hair cut in-toe. Just need to sought out my problem in groups now.
3. Art class today. The young member of the group with Aspergers turns to me with a smile on his face and says. ''I'm glad your my Art Teacher.''

That must be very satisfying, when a pupil compliments you on your teaching. Well done to you. What sort of art do you teach? I have zero artistic skill unfortunately, but this is a thread for positivity so I didn't say that Creating art can be quite therapeutic I imagine.

[hellotiger]

I arranged cover for the shop so I can have a day off next week.
I was super anxious about it because I had to keep phoning around people until I found someone that would run the shop for me. I felt sick right before doing it, the most scared I've ever been there. It was awful particularly because I had to phone some people at home and I absolutely hate inconveniencing people. But I did it and now I have a day off yay!

Edit: I'll expand on that a little because I don't think I've explained properly why I was so scared. I guess it's mainly because I didn't think that anyone would want to help me or put themselves out to give me a hand. So the fear of being rejected and having that confirmed so many times was terrifying to me. But everyone I spoke to was lovely and willing to rearrange their plans to help me out.

[daveysurfy]

[buttonlane]

Originally Posted by rex

That must be very satisfying, when a pupil compliments you on your teaching. Well done to you. What sort of art do you teach? I have zero artistic skill unfortunately, but this is a thread for positivity so I didn't say that Creating art can be quite therapeutic I imagine.

Thanks.
Yeah I was like 'oh..thank you', haha, it was unexpected but in my head I was punching my fist in the air.

I'm not a qualified teacher, I do it on a voluntary basis. It was very much trial and error to begin with. My background is Fine Art but I dont have a program that I robotically teach. I treat everyone as individuals and set out activities that cater to the students needs. If the student is more creative but not used to drawing, I'll either give them an intro to drawing or let them express themselves with collage. If they want to paint they can paint. A couple of the attendees dont like taking instruction, so they come in and do there own thing. Everyone is there because they want to be there and like you say, it's therapeutic for them.
Because of the nature of the group, it being mixed, I feel like I'm playing different roles, Teacher, Carer, Psychologist, Tea maker. It's the only time in a group I'm relaxed.

[asimovs_unicorn]

Originally Posted by daveysurfy

that's a long walk how far was it? i'm guessing about 5 miles?

[Sunshine Recorder]

I posted a status update of my thoughts on Facebook. This was actually pretty difficult for me, as I have the pressure of my family following me. (for some reason, I'm really anxious about talking to my family).

[asimovs_unicorn]

went out for a walk and purposely headed towards the direction i knew there would be lots of people usually i subconsciously plan my route to go through the quietest areas possible. i think i may have also said fck you social anxiety outloud as i turned down the path heading towards the people.

[David K]

^ Nice one, I do that too. I find if I yell "fck you social anxiety" as loud as I can the people just seem to melt away.

[asimovs_unicorn]

Originally Posted by David K

^ Nice one, I do that too. I find if I yell "fck you social anxiety" as loud as I can the people just seem to runmelt away.

[les]

I caught a helium filled balloon in the town centre today after a little girl had it blown out of her hand whilst getting in the car, and it blew across the road aided by a passing cars air flow, then I was able to stamp on the string before it took off, and returned it to six year old Molly with the quivering lip, much to her mum's relief.