Mirror, Mirror...

[realitybugll]

How to be --

I think getting a job or perhaps going to college is a good idea.

I'm wondering though from your initial post how feasible that would be. can your mom live on her own? can she manage if you get a job?

I imagine you could at least get a part time job. working at a bookstore would be one idea, if there is one where you live.

You said you play video games too much, but you also said that your desire has been decreasing lately. that's a good thing then I suppose :)


I'm currently a high-school student, and I identify what you wrote above. Today I couldn't even manage to do the laundry until it was late and dark out. I procrastinate with school work a lot. I'm working and trying to be better person, and to learn about myself, and to figure out my "purpose", to find happiness, . Being here has helped I think.

 

[HowToBe]

A few days ago I completed an in-store digital application to the local grocery store I mentioned earlier. I'm still awaiting the results.

Here is my plan of action so far:
1.) Get a job so that I can afford to try the diet modifications suggested on this forum, as well as suggested reading materials, and get used to the flow of actually doing stuff. At the same time I'll work on getting into the flow of keeping things clean, and keeping food cooked.
2.) Use some of the resulting money to look into various learning techniques and tools, such as speed reading and photo reading, alternative math techniques, and such, the goal being to "learn how to learn well".
3.) Go to college with help from my grandparents who have generously saved some school money away for me. This step will be reserved for once I feel confident about my mastery of steps 1 and 2; I don't want to experience the problems I had in high school again. This will give me time also to determine exactly what direction I want to go with my education and career.

If the grocery store doesn't work out, the idea of working in a bookstore is somewhat appealing.

 

[HowToBe]

Well, I figure it's a good time to update. I've been feeling a bit under the weather the last few days (probably because I got sucked back into the pattern of eating sugar, which I'm pulling back from now), and I was about to make a new thread when I remembered this one. So I figured it was a good time to review this thread. This has helped me put things in perspective.

So, progress report. I still don't have a job, I'm still not going to college, and the house is still a mess. However! The house is a tiny bit cleaner than it was before, both in my room and in the kitchen, and I'm getting better about making meals regularly. Currently we have an organic turkey cooking in the oven, with lots of that healthy fat I keep reading about welling up around it. I have not managed to eliminate wheat, dairy, or sugar, but my attempts to avoid them seem to have resulted in periods of energy and clear-headedness that encourage me to keep working towards removing them. I did Eiriu Eolas fully twice this week (two days in a row, including the bioenergetic breathing), and I don't know if that's contributing to my feeling "off" or not. I'm getting to bed before 10:00 pretty consistently, which is a step forward. We've been having less wheat and dairy in our diets as I've tried to avoid it in cooking, and my mom seems to feel more energetic as well. She has started helping out with more things.

I'm still unsure about college and work. So far, I don't feel like I'm up to it, because those things would take so much energy, but perhaps I'm just avoiding things? To turn 20 and still have no job experience might be a problem, eh? Also, since my grandparents (who are quite advanced in age) have the money saved away for me, and are probably hoping to see it go to use, that places some pressure as well.

For the moment, I'm going to try and avoid sugar except for a little fruit, get plenty of sleep, and do Eiriu Eolas once a week. I've started reading the Wave, which I tried to do a few times in the past, but never managed to get very far. I get distracted from it, reading SOTT and forum posts instead. Maybe it's an avoidance tactic; it seems like I might be avoiding it because I know It's so important, if that makes sense... the last few days I haven't managed to read any, although I've been at the computer and have decided to put it at a higher priority than other things. I guess I had better make sure I read that before I check SOTT and the forum, no exceptions!

For the record, if I wanted to study about any particular field, it appears that psychology and education (helping people to really learn) fit my current interests the most.

Hmm, I think I just discovered why I've been going for the sugar so strongly. I just realized I've almost had no vegetables the last few days! No wonder I was hungry all the time. I just steamed some collard greens and carrots and ate them without flavorings; sure hits the spot.

Anyway, I guess I'll continue trying to relax and take everything at its natural pace, without letting things slide too much. I'm starting to get so that I can stick to some things when I decide to do them, which is great!

Thanks,
HowToBe

 

[HowToBe]

Alright, status update. I'm going to try and get applied for college within the next two weeks so I can catch the summer semester. With the way the world's changing physically and probable economic collapse coming, I've decided that I can't afford to drag my feet if I want to learn some professional skills. Currently my interest is to pursue psychology, as my attention seems to have repeatedly returned to various aspects of that field, and it seems to be where my curiosity lies. These things should supply some impetus to get the house cleaned up. We are all working together to clean the kitchen right now, and have made remarkable progress. I'll have to work on my room as well.

Anyway, regarding college, are there any things of particular note that I should be aware of that might change my decision to go or help me with my classes? Are there any things I should know or be warned about regarding the field of psychology?

I'm not sure what field of psychology I would like to get into. I'm interested in doing therapy to help people, and I want to help students to cope with the stresses of the school system, by teaching them learning strategies and helping them overcome stress, for example. I don't know what this means in terms of what I should get in terms of schooling. The college near my house only offers 2 years of psychology (Associate of Science degree), so I suppose I would need to transfer to complete my education. How do I select my major and find out which school to transfer to?

 

[obyvatel]

Anyway, regarding college, are there any things of particular note that I should be aware of that might change my decision to go or help me with my classes? Are there any things I should know or be warned about regarding the field of psychology?

A thread such as Freud a psychopath?Certainly! could be helpful. There is a lot of psychology related material in this forum - works of Lobaczewski (ponerology) , Dabrowski (theory of positive disintegration and more) , Cleckley (psychopathy), Jung have been discussed. You can use the search function to dig up more information.


[quote author=HowToBe]
I'm not sure what field of psychology I would like to get into. I'm interested in doing therapy to help people, and I want to help students to cope with the stresses of the school system, by teaching them learning strategies and helping them overcome stress, for example. I don't know what this means in terms of what I should get in terms of schooling. The college near my house only offers 2 years of psychology (Associate of Science degree), so I suppose I would need to transfer to complete my education. How do I select my major and find out which school to transfer to?
[/quote]
The internet has information about some of the questions you have raised - for example what kind of career you can expect with a 2 year associate degree or a 4 year bachelor degree or a masters or a PhD. For example, if you are interested in counselling, then you may want to look up what the educational requirements are to become a counsellor in your state/area. Will an associate degree suffice or do you need at least a bachelors degree.
Since you mentioned that your intent is to help students cope with stress, are you familiar with the EE breathing and meditation program? You may want to consider learning and becoming certified as a EE instructor since that may align quite well with your intent.

 

[HowToBe]

Yes, I've considered that teaching EE may be a great way to help others deal with stress. Looking on the EE forum, I see that there are plans to have online courses to let people become certified as a EE instructors.

I will check out that thread. I've not read any of the recommended psychology books yet (currently reading The Wave), but I'll see what I can do. I'll certainly check out that thread. I've personally thought that Freud's seeming need to relate everything to sex implied something was twisted about him, but I don't know much even so.

 

[HowToBe]

I'm starting to have second thoughts already, mostly about whether I'm ready to "jump in" like this. It's possible that my desire to not "waste time" is making me too hasty, with disregard for the fact that I might not be able to do the work in my current state and environment (house is still messy). You recommended some reading and searching for information, obyvatel, which I realize I need to do. I guess I'll also give this some serious contemplation, something I seem to rarely (if ever) do, despite being a superficially "intellectual" person. Always too many words; I want to vocalize every tiny insignificant idea to whoever is in earshot, and then I run out of steam and end up holding a lot of small, hypothetical ideas, but no strong, practical. Lower intellectual center = throat chakra, and I often talk a lot about very little, I think. I feel like I may be doing that at this very moment, but at least the intent to network and grow may transform it into something positive rather than wasteful.

I'm considering consulting I-Ching about my situation, which I've never done seriously before. I'll be looking up what the C's and others said about it first, however, and I'm not looking to have my decision made for me.

 

[obyvatel]

I'm starting to have second thoughts already, mostly about whether I'm ready to "jump in" like this. It's possible that my desire to not "waste time" is making me too hasty, with disregard for the fact that I might not be able to do the work in my current state and environment (house is still messy).

It is common to have second thoughts and feel some degree of nervousness or anxiety when we have to take important decisions of life. When it comes down to matters that we know would have a large impact on our lives, the somewhat abstract intellectual information that we may have acquired needs to be applied in real life - and this is the Work. So regarding your choice of career, you can study your own reactions. Is the fear of making a wrong decision influencing your thinking - like finding excuses for not doing it? If so, then you can use the emotional energy to constructive purposes - like trying to find more information about career options.
One rarely has complete information about such things before making a decision - so do your research to the best of your ability, ask questions and get feedback, and then decide one way or the other and move on. Breaking up a big task into smaller manageable chunks and setting some kind of time limit to accomplish the smaller sub-tasks can help in your efforts to do research. Like you can set yourself a goal of finding out about the kind of work you can expect with a 2 year associate degree in psychology in your area. Start with the internet, and from there, if applicable, make some phone calls to get information. Set yourself a time period - like say 2 hours a day for 3 days within which to accomplish the task. In parallel, you could be reading about psychology related material here in the forum to boost your knowledge on the subject. If you proceed in this manner, within a a few weeks you could be having enough data to make an informed choice in this matter.
fwiw

PS: I do not quite understand how your house being messy is related to your going to college. If the messy house bothers you, it needs cleaning, not contemplation :).

 

[HowToBe]

I'm starting to have second thoughts already, mostly about whether I'm ready to "jump in" like this. It's possible that my desire to not "waste time" is making me too hasty, with disregard for the fact that I might not be able to do the work in my current state and environment (house is still messy).

Is the fear of making a wrong decision influencing your thinking - like finding excuses for not doing it? If so, then you can use the emotional energy to constructive purposes - like trying to find more information about career options.

Mainly I think I'm afraid of jumping in and then finding I can't do the work required, which was my situation all the way up to and through high school. I always managed to pass, and usually made medium grades, but it was very stressful. I don't know if I'm to the point to where I can motivate myself to really get the work done, even when I don't feel like it. My mom has suggested that it may be different in college because college is a choice for me, and not forced like public schooling. However, since video games don't have the power over me they once had, the barriers between me and getting things done do appear to be fewer.

PS: I do not quite understand how your house being messy is related to your going to college. If the messy house bothers you, it needs cleaning, not contemplation :).

Hah, you've got me there! The main issues are whether I will have enough space to do the schoolwork, and whether I really have the ability to complete schoolwork regularly if my ability to motivate myself for housework is so weak (I am making slow progress, but I don't know if I'll be able to clean house and handle college at the same time.) You've helped me think; there's no reason why I can't continue to focus on the house while researching the information I'll need to make a reasonable decision about college, since I already spend some time on the computer anyway.

Thank you for the ideas for what kind of information to look for.