So recently I have committed to doing a weekly support group – streaming live on YouTube – every Wednesday.

And this has brought up new feelings about my social anxiety.

The entire process of making the videos for the website – and putting this together as a whole – has been an interesting undertaking for me. It has been facing “new triggers” and being reminded of how my social anxiety used to be.

Now granted, these new feelings have not slowed me down any – I am so excited to really dive into the weekly live streaming support group now – but I would be lying to you if I said I didnt have any “thoughts” at all.

And this is what I talk about when I say “find the first thought” – so I had a thought – a “what if” thought about doing a live streaming support group. But I didnt respond to it!! And that is what recovery is. It was having a thought – seeing the first thought – and then ignoring it and moving on.

And this type of thing does happen – when we get exposed to new situations, we may have a “what if” thought – which is essentially an “anxiety driven” thought. It is how we respond to that thought that determines our level of anxiety (if any) and the amount of suffering we allow the situation to cause.

Be sure to check out the weekly live streaming support group on YouTube. Where I will be bringing the same platform that I did in person at the treatment center to the internet. We will be talking mostly about anxiety and recovery – but we will eventually have some guests on and be exploring other topics as well (self care, life managing techniques, etc) – looking forward to making it a well rounded approach to not only recovery from anxiety disorders, but positive change in life overall.

Have a great day – continue to ENGAGE the process of recovery – and Ill “see you soon” – be well.

Michael Valentine