<b><center>The Coping Challenge: II</b>
Bucket Edition</center>
I don't know how many of you remember this, but about a year or two ago we did something here called the <a href="http://buslist.org/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=106362">Coping Challenge.</a> It seemed to work out pretty good, but because of time constraints I/we were never really able to get another one off the ground.
So here we are, Coping Challenge II. The goal of this one is <b>visualization</b>.
<i>Challenge Rules</i>
There are no set "rules" for the challenge - which is why it is in quotation marks. Pretty much, the only thing that you have to do is pretty much just stay within the boundaries that the challenge has created. This is for fun and is geared to get you to think.
You do not have to post if you do not want. If you want to post in this thread with your response, go ahead! But pretty much how it works is this:
1) Work through the steps. With every challenge you "work", either make a mental note of what you have done, or what is going on, or write that down. The second post in this thread is the "template" post, which will hopefully explain how to write down the challenge if you want to do so. (If you still have questions, go ahead and PM me
)2) This part isn't for writing down, but think about how you can use those steps not just here on the forum, but in daily life.
<center><i>The Challenge</i>
Okay, so that's my Cubs bucket. Gimmie bonus points for trying, folks
</center>Visualize in your head that this is the bucket that contains all of your negative feelings. Through the day, through the week, through whatever time limit you want to set, these negative feelings have accumulated to a point where the bucket has gotten to the point where it can hold no more.
Generally, we recognize this, but sometimes we don't know what to do about it. So things build and build and build and eventually, the bucket tips, and all of our negative feelings spill out and we end up using some form of self-destructive coping mechanisms (SI, drinking).
The trick of it is to find where we can dump the bucket before it gets too full, and how we can do it without being negative towards ourselves.
<b>Challenge #1</b>
<i>Just Like In Programming, Define Your Constants</i>
Constants meaning...
1) What is the "edge" for you? What emotions or actions are triggers to make the bucket fall?
2) How much is "too much"? Is it in terms of time of negative things/emotions, sets of feelings, or triggers? If they are triggers, define them.
3) What sets you right? What makes you empty the bucket?
<b>Challenge #2</b>
<i>So We've Defined Our Constants, And Now...We Define Our Own Tipping Point</i>
Recognize a place for you where you can tip the bucket of its negative feelings, and not let your emotions do the work for you. Giving yourself the choice of tipping the bucket is pretty empowering - when you say "I choose to throw these feelings off a hill, and I am not going to SI or be triggered and have the bucket fall on its own" - that is a huge step.
The next thing you should put in your lab manual is how you are going to do it. Are you going to choose another visualization, like throwing them off a cliff, or writing, or doing something fun and special for yourself? The choice is completely up to you and is all in how you define it.
<b>Challenge #3</b>
<i>Taking Care of Me</i>
Exactly what it said. How do you take care of yourself in a POSITIVE way when your bucket tippeth over, or when there's a lot of negativity to hold that you can't get rid of? What can you do to reinforce the fact that you don't have to hurt yourself in order to make the negativity go away?
Good Luck!
