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Myrtle · 10-11-2008, 05:43 PM

I would also like to commend you on your English.

When you have negative thoughts and at the same time want to be realistic and practical, I encourage you to look at the conflicts between your thoughts and reality. For example, you wrote "I think I'm just being realistic. I have no skills, no talents, no natural abilities" When you think that you do not have talents or abilities you are not being realistic, so there is the conflict. Everyone is born with natural ability/talent, and your writing suggests that you are talented in language.

Also, I don't think it's so terrible if you don't remember political or historical facts and figures. To me, this just means that you're bored by these subjects. Maybe you have a strong need to focus on more personal areas right now? If so, this need may not leave room for general, less urgent things as politics/geography/history. At such a young age, this is definitely understandable.

You also wrote "I lived in a town called Oakville the first two years of college. And every weekend my dad would pick me up, and I would return back to my home town which was half an hour away. To this day I do not know how to get to Oakville, despite traveling there and back for two years straight." This sounds perfectly normal to me! Here is why: when someone else is driving and you are the passenger, the person who actively learns the way is the driver. The passenger gets some passive learning done, some streets will seem familiar, but I wouldn't expect him to navigate...

So your arguments of "being dumb" are not realistically based.

I am not a professional, but in my personal opinion, if you find difficulty expressing your thoughts verbally and feel cognitively "slow", you might want to do some reading about stress and anxiety. When focusing on thoughts like "I am slow" you are feeding into the stress that makes you feel slow. It's difficult to be sharp while at the same time doubting your intelligence.

I hope you feel better soon!

10-11-2008, 05:43 PM	#18 (permalink)
Myrtle Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 2	Good English I would also like to commend you on your English. When you have negative thoughts and at the same time want to be realistic and practical, I encourage you to look at the conflicts between your thoughts and reality. For example, you wrote "I think I'm just being realistic. I have no skills, no talents, no natural abilities" When you think that you do not have talents or abilities you are not being realistic, so there is the conflict. Everyone is born with natural ability/talent, and your writing suggests that you are talented in language. Also, I don't think it's so terrible if you don't remember political or historical facts and figures. To me, this just means that you're bored by these subjects. Maybe you have a strong need to focus on more personal areas right now? If so, this need may not leave room for general, less urgent things as politics/geography/history. At such a young age, this is definitely understandable. You also wrote "I lived in a town called Oakville the first two years of college. And every weekend my dad would pick me up, and I would return back to my home town which was half an hour away. To this day I do not know how to get to Oakville, despite traveling there and back for two years straight." This sounds perfectly normal to me! Here is why: when someone else is driving and you are the passenger, the person who actively learns the way is the driver. The passenger gets some passive learning done, some streets will seem familiar, but I wouldn't expect him to navigate... So your arguments of "being dumb" are not realistically based. I am not a professional, but in my personal opinion, if you find difficulty expressing your thoughts verbally and feel cognitively "slow", you might want to do some reading about stress and anxiety. When focusing on thoughts like "I am slow" you are feeding into the stress that makes you feel slow. It's difficult to be sharp while at the same time doubting your intelligence. I hope you feel better soon!