Managing TrivialITies

Recovery is not a replacement for therapy, or a place to deal with major life traumas.

Most people's lives are comprised of everyday events: tasks like going to the grocery store, dealing with traffic, mowing the lawn, walking the dog, getting along with one's spouse or kids or co-workers. These events in Recovery are called "trivialities." But we all know that when we are stressed, depressed, anxious or overwhelmed, dealing with trivialities doesn't feel trivial.

Often, when we think about commonplace things, we can get ourselves "worked up" in how we approach them. 

I might get anxious about going to the grocery store -- worried about all the people there, or I won't have enough money for what I need, or because I had a panic attack at a grocery store in the past. My spouse might remind me to be on time for an event -- and I think that means I am not trusted, or my spouse doesn't think I understand the importance of the event.

I get in a traffic jam and start getting worked up because I worry about being late, or I feel like it's somehow the fault of the other drivers that we're going so slowly. I am trying to get a project done at home, and the kids keep interrupting me. It feels like they're interrupting me just to annoy me, and I get mad.

These are trivialities. And they affect our mental health and well-being. How I respond can also affect the people around me.

In Recovery, we look at how we get "worked up." And we learn new ways to think so we don't respond the same way that we have in the past -- replacing ways that haven't worked for us. We learn how to manage our stress and symptoms. Over time, learning how to manage the "small stuff" can also translate into more peaceful ways of managing the "big stuff." In Recovery, we are helping each other. We are not mental health professionals -- we are people who want more peaceful, happier lives. This is about peers teaching and supporting peers.

Dr. Low believed that people need to be responsible for their own healing. They need to

be active, and put forward effort and discipline. They need to learn how to use and control their mental and physical muscles. Over the decades, tens of thousands of people in Recovery  wanted to get well, and have applied Dr. Low's Method successfully. They lead much happier lives today, and are more peaceful and productive -- because they chose to be, and they learned and applied the tools to get there. This is not a magic pill -- it takes effort.

In Recovery, we keep our meetings focused on application of the Method to trivialities.

We do NOT talk about medications, medical or mental health conditions or practitioners, diagnoses, politics, religion, sex, legal matters, traumatic or current events. The focus is on our internal environment -- what we are feeling and thinking -- not the external environment. 

In Recovery, we learn from each other. You will see what works other people up,

and how they are learning to better manage their thoughts and symptoms. Everyone is 

in this together, learning from each other, supporting each other. Ultimately, we try to be a 

self-help community. You don't have to do it alone.