internalizer

[sara]

help! i am such an internalizing thinker that it is driving me crazy after being this way all my life, that i can remember. i always think inwardly, i clearly see everything in my minds eyes so that when i look at something in the out wardly world it seems strange. i can visualize things so clearly like i'm actually there that when i come back to here and now it seems scary, like i've been on vacation and never left the farm. i'm not multi personality. i just think inwardly so much so that when i look around my real world it looks strange. does anyone else do this. i've been trying to focus more outwardly, so i don't freak out so much but i keep reverting back to my old ways. i'm tired of always looking inward, i feel like is passing me by while i'm walking around in an almost day dream kind of state. i miss out on everything. i get panicky at times cause i think i may someday like my other world i will lose contact with the real world then i would miss out on my whole life and my grand childrens life, i am only 42. anybody know what i am talking about? any ideas on how to stay outwardly focused and if you can lose your mind from too much internalization? thanx sarah

[Tony T]

You can't lose your mind, but you can lose a lot of time.

 

People who can't handle reality very well focus inward to more gentle surroundings. You may have been abused as a child and went inside yourself as a method of protection or you may be so ultra sensitive you don't choose to handle the stuff that life dishes out. When we retreat into a world of our own creation, we can avoid a lot of the negative in life but we also sacrifice a lot of the positive.

 

You pose this question as if you have no control over your mind. You are the ONLY one who has control. At 42, you should be prepared to handle most any situation that confronts you in life. It sounds like you are developing excercises to pull yourself out into the real world. Continue that.

 

You probably are in a habit of retreating inward because a world of your own creation is in your complete and total power and control whereas the happenings in the real world are often not. Relax, give up the need for control, focus outside, and enjoy life as it happens. When you get used to handling things as they come, you should have no problem staying outwardly focused.

 

There is no problem with internalizing, as you call it, but when you do it most of the time it does present a certain amount of difficulty in your life.

 

If the exercises and other efforts you put forth to try to bring yourself into the real world fail, I suggest seeing a hypnotherapist or a psychological counsellor (highly qualified) to help you with the task.