What I’ve Learned From Going Through OCD Recovery

What I’ve learned from going through OCD recovery

1. I don’t have many friends – How I like to live my life isn’t very common. This is fine, but it brings some cons. I don’t desire to go out, I rarely drink, I’d rather golf alone, smoke cigars alone, and if I’m not with my family, I almost always choose to be alone.
2. Most people don’t push themselves in life and end up living very mediocre existences – Again, there isn’t anything inherently wrong with this, but if you could tap into most people’s brains, they usually want more out of life. The disconnect comes from not matching what they desire with action and continuous discipline.
3. I don’t need a lot of sleep – I enjoy sleep, I really do, but I’m okay with 6–6.5 for the rest of my life. Most nights, I wake up 2–3 times as well, so I rarely sleep straight through.
4. Most humans have never had the gift of desperation – OCD can be viewed through the lens of a gift. That’s right, a gift. I wouldn’t have seen it that way 6–8 years ago, but I certainly see it that way now. Without developing severe OCD, I probably wouldn’t have quit many of my addictions. I probably wouldn’t be happily married with a kid.
5. Core beliefs would be best taught once someone turns 12 – I think if we taught REBT in schools, we’d potentially have a lot fewer issues in society. This is idealistic, but I plan on giving Roman and my other children the opportunity to learn REBT from a young age.
6. The greatest joy in my life is my son – Without OCD and the depths of suffering we all go through, I wouldn’t have seen it that way. My son has taught me to slow down and appreciate elements of life I would have never appreciated otherwise.
7. Most people believe what they believe because of their actions – Because most humans don’t know much about core fears and REBT, their only way of thinking and believing a certain way is primarily through action. How we act is a major influence on how we think and how we feel.
8. Regardless of the journey, unfortunately, most people will not stay the course – This goes beyond OCD recovery; it’s all goals. The gym, relationships, career, etc. We have lost the art of sticking things through. There are multiple avenues one can take in life, but you rarely read a profound book where someone couldn’t stick with anything.
9. OCD recovery is not an excuse for bad behavior – Many people will use acceptance as a weapon, even to justify their poor behavior. I did this. I had to learn that acceptance was for me and that, regardless of our views on REBT, we live in a society that doesn’t abide by those principles, well, most people at least. I had to accept that people are going to act how they act. Nice, mean, vicious, kind, murderous, greedy, loving, caring, psychopathic, sociopathic, the list goes on.
10. There are more behaviors that fuel OCD than people think – I speak about this a lot on my calls. When you string together a dozen low frustration tolerance behaviors, it typically doesn’t end well. Daily adult websites, too much nicotine, daily or binge drinking, constant scrolling, daily reality TV, snoozing. This usually leads to a life of instant gratification and very low achievement.