how do I grow a thicker skin and change my reactions to adversity?
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Stoicism in the Marcus Aurelius sense has some value here. There are things you can change and things that you can't. Recognize the difference. It might mean recognizing you get upset about the things you can't change, but as a framework it puts a lot into perspective
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
With an attitude like that you are overperforming by 105%
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
You seem to be ready for either mindfulness meditation or Stoic philosophy. Neither one provides a quick fix, but the benefits accumulate over time.
I'm sorry that you're going through this. I wish you peace.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Very eloquently put. Thanks for sharing your insights.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
i'm on the spectrum too and one of the things that life has taught me the hard way is not to take life advice from neurotypicals; it's not that they're wrong or malicious, it's only that they don't have a life that's anything like yours so their advice usually doesn't work or it's not applicable.
neurodivergence requires you to build your own mechanisms for handling the shit life throws at you and it also guarantees that you'll fail more often than not if you don't get professionally trained help; what you're feeling will keep happening until you do get that help.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
He's a new manager working through a merger. He may be friendly and approachable, but he's got a lot on his plate.
He asked everyone to stay in their position. you applied for a new position. In his eyes, what kind of impression might you have made? Now he may still be friendly and approachable. More than likely, he saw it and said, "I don't have time for this."
If you want a change and need to do it through your manager, figure out what his problems are and if you can be helpful. If not, just do your job well. Then when the difficulties of the merger have balanced out, you may have space to ask again.
During a merger, things are complicated and messy. He has pressures that you may not be aware of. Advancing in your workplace often requires soft skills. They may seem mercurial and difficult, but it's just a set of skills.
As for thicker skin, first feel what is happening. Don't try to change it or wish it different. Gather data about how your emotional mind works and work with what it is and not what everyone says it should be.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Walk barefoot in the woods and take up guitar.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
it also guarantees that youโll fail more often than not if you donโt get professionally trained help
would you DM me to explain what kind of help you got and how it helped?
If you're talking about masking, isn't it hard? like constantly being on edge pretending to be something you're not, faking being what extroverted neurotypicals want you to be.
At the workplace it would mean working 200%: doing my job and then constantly placating them. Who does that?
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
masking is an extremely common coping technique that neurodivergents teach themselves and, yes, also exhausting. (and i would dm' but i don't mind sharing it here).
i've gotten several forms of help; but the most useful was talk therapy. i had to try with multiple different psychologists until i learned that they're not all the same and all of them are human beings with their own human foibles; so you'll have to actively listen and analyze your therapist as much as they're training to analyze you. the worst help i got were from psychiatrists who focused on pushed medications that were mere bandages for the problems i had.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
I mean, it dovetails into nihilism too. God and cosmic justice is dead, we have to figure out how to work with what we have.
Unfortunately both nihilism and stoicism have a different meaning to the average reader than the original one.
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
Agreed. Many philosophies get distilled into something proximal, and often more negative over time. Just ask 4chan about nietzsche
(or don't)
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[email protected]replied to [email protected] last edited by
I find talk therapy is the best for us NDs. The therapy itself is such a relief and while you are describing your problems, the therapist is getting to know you and you are getting to know them.
I've also recently heard of some interpersonal skills (like non attachment )from Dialectical Behavior Therapy be fleshed out in different ways from the book the "Let Them Theory" by Mell Robins. I found the tweaks to the techniques here to be incredibly useful in short-circuiting the emotional responses I feel in the moment during difficult interpersonal interactions.
Maybe it will help you? I don't know. I'm just listing what has helped me.