I have become quite interested in the phenomenon of hoarding. I never knew that such a thing existed till I started watching a tv show on A&E network called Hoarders. It is quite fascinating how people with this affliction survive and live. I am no psychiatrist but here is my explanation of what it is. Hoarding is an illness whereby people get emotionally attached to things to such an extent that they cannot part with even the trash they may have in their homes. A lot of them are compulsive shoppers and they go out and buy things they don't even need. Most of these homes they show have piles and piles in every room with items and trash so that you cannot even walk in the rooms. One woman could not get to her bathroom so that she had two years of used adult diapers in trash bags in her house. One man had 500,000 beer cans he was collecting.
I guess I am what you would call a pack rat. I am also sentimental and I am afraid I will forget the memories that I want to keep if I should throw something out, which happens to also be a trait of a hoarder. But I can throw things away, I just put off doing it. Very much a procrastinator. I have a lot of stuff I need to clear out and go through before I move this summer. Lots of stress there and I think hoarders feel a lot of stress they can't deal with. This leads me to other stuff:
A Bible study on stress that I just read says that there are 4 causes of stress:
People
Events
Thoughts
Emotions
People cause stress through personality, values, and character traits. Some people energize us and others exhaust us. I would rather energize people and be an encourager than to wear them out with my presence. But I don't know if I'm always the encourager I want to be.
Events can cause stress. Sickness, problems in the workplace, marital difficulties. Anything is an event in your life. I can feel stress by watching somebody sing on television that I absolutely can't stand. the stress reliever for that is to turn it off! Decision making is an event that causes stress. I have a lot of decisions to make in the next few months about jobs, new place to live, getting stuff ready to move, getting it moved, getting settled, paying for everything, keeping my health and sanity in the process. I'm feeling the stress already! The strain of the divorce is very telling for me. I am tired a lot. I sleep a lot more because I am depressed about the direction my life is going. I miss having friends to hang out with. I don't go anywhere but the grocery store, the doctor and church, and to the bank occasionally. I even miss working to some extent. I guess I miss productivity.
Thoughts are a big stress producer, especially when they are negative and pulling you down. Being honest with myself about how I feel is important because I need to be validated in these thoughts. If I feel I am not honest or misleading myself or others then I am causing myself and others stress. A busy mind that never stops is a peace robber. I need to slow down and just meditate on the Word of God and the peace that passes all understanding.
Emotional stress is a biggie. Anger is another peace robber. To feel hostility toward others is self-defeating. I am hurting myself more than the other person. Feeling hopeless is a feeling I often have these days. But I should always have hope because God is in charge, not me. Discouragement is a palpable emotion that can really take over my life if I let it. I have a lot of reasons to be discouraged right now but I would really rather hang on to hope. That's why I am trying not to worry too much about my situation (even though I wrote about all my anxiety a few weeks ago). I have been praying about my situation and although I really have no answers yet I feel like God heard me and He's gonna move when it's time to move. I've been able to get to church in the last few weeks except for this past Sunday. It was good and uplifting to be there. I just wish I felt like I fit in. I don't feel that way yet. So that causes me some emotional stress, but I'm not gonna quit going just cause I don't have a group of friends to hang out with there. The purpose is to worship God and encourage others in their worship of God.
I do solicit the prayers of every one who reads these words. I would love it if you would respond with prayer requests for yourselves or for others as you have need to. I can post a weekly prayer list every week and answers to those prayers later.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Cats vs Dogs
So, everyone knows that I have a cat and a dog. Before marriage I had neither. But I always wanted a cat.
Now I have one and I feel bad that she now prefers my company to Neil since she was his cat to begin with. But it might have something to do with the fact that I am female like her. The dog is female too. And they both follow me around, lay on my lap, just generally fawn all over me. It's nice to know I'm loved!
Most people either don't like animals or have a certain animal that they prefer. I am a cat lover. I also will tolerate small to medium sized dogs. If you have a large dog, do not bring him near me, otherwise I will absolutely freak out. I am scared to death of large dogs, no matter how friendly and loving they are. Something about an animal that's as big as me or maybe bigger gives me the willies. I wonder why it is that we have the tendency to develop a preference for a certain type of animal? My husband is fascinated by tarantulas. We had one in an escape proof cage until it passed away a few months ago. I wouldn't even look at it, but we would go to the pet store every few months and buy live crickets for it to eat. I felt a little bit sorry for those poor crickets. Hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, birds, frogs, ferrets are all animals that people have tried to tame and keep as pets. Even snakes are kept in people's homes. I once knew someone with a pet raccoon in the back yard. Animal lovers are a strange breed.
But what's even stranger to me is how we have managed to incorporate our animal friends into our English vocabulary. Take the words cat and dog for instance. Just off the top of my head let me list a few words with either cat or dog as a part of the word. I have not cheated and looked it up in the dictionary. All of these words are ones that I have thought of. Remember, I have done a lot of reading in my 53 years, especially since I started reading at the age of 4.
If you can think of any others to add to the list please feel free to add it in the comments section.
CAT
Now I have one and I feel bad that she now prefers my company to Neil since she was his cat to begin with. But it might have something to do with the fact that I am female like her. The dog is female too. And they both follow me around, lay on my lap, just generally fawn all over me. It's nice to know I'm loved!
Most people either don't like animals or have a certain animal that they prefer. I am a cat lover. I also will tolerate small to medium sized dogs. If you have a large dog, do not bring him near me, otherwise I will absolutely freak out. I am scared to death of large dogs, no matter how friendly and loving they are. Something about an animal that's as big as me or maybe bigger gives me the willies. I wonder why it is that we have the tendency to develop a preference for a certain type of animal? My husband is fascinated by tarantulas. We had one in an escape proof cage until it passed away a few months ago. I wouldn't even look at it, but we would go to the pet store every few months and buy live crickets for it to eat. I felt a little bit sorry for those poor crickets. Hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, birds, frogs, ferrets are all animals that people have tried to tame and keep as pets. Even snakes are kept in people's homes. I once knew someone with a pet raccoon in the back yard. Animal lovers are a strange breed.
But what's even stranger to me is how we have managed to incorporate our animal friends into our English vocabulary. Take the words cat and dog for instance. Just off the top of my head let me list a few words with either cat or dog as a part of the word. I have not cheated and looked it up in the dictionary. All of these words are ones that I have thought of. Remember, I have done a lot of reading in my 53 years, especially since I started reading at the age of 4.
If you can think of any others to add to the list please feel free to add it in the comments section.
CAT
- catapult
- catastrophe
- catamaran
- catalyst
- catch
- catchy
- catsup
- catty
- catty-cornered
- bobcat
- dogged
- doggerel
- doggone
- hotdog
- dog-eared
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