The Sky Is Falling

My doctor loaned me a copy of his book The Sky Is Falling  which talks about the hows and whys of phobia, panic, and obsessive-compulsive disorders.  I’m finding this book to be very insightful, the other night as I was reading, I came across a few words that really struck a chord with me.

Einstein once said, “It is the theory that determines what we can observe.”  Because we believe something to be true, we see only the facts that confirm our belief.

I immediately stopped reading and put the book down.  WE ONLY SEE THE FACTS THAT CONFIRM OUR BELIEF.  I believe I had a deadly disease, I only see the facts that support my belief.  I don’t see the overwhelming facts that I in fact have an illness called anxiety.  I also don’t see the mountains that I have climbed and the amazing progress I have made in recovery from anxiety because those facts don’t fit into my current belief system.

It all started to make perfect sense.

I also began to recognize that, even though I don’t see myself as having OCD, I can see how I have developed rituals and routines as coping mechanisms: Taking my pulse, weighing myself, taking my temperature, running to WebMD or MedHelp.com, asking friends for reassurance that I’m ok, etc. etc.   These rituals are done to help alleviate the pain associated with anxiety.

Today, rather than believing that the sky is falling, I march on.  I invited a friend at work to go to lunch with me, not to rush through the drive-through, but to actually go in, sit down, talk.  Also, earlier in the day, another friend asked if I would join him for a quick walk outside, without thinking, I quickly jumped out of my chair and went.

***WE ONLY SEE THE FACTS THAT CONFIRM OUR BELIEF.  ***So, lets change our beliefs.