finding a balance

For me, happiness, joy, fullfilment in life is MUCH more important than money. If you don't enjoy your job, miss your home, your familiy, find something you like to do.

 

Never had the substance abuse problems but- definitely anxiety. Not sure where I picked it up, but I'm a workaholic, too.

I got rid of PTSD and calmed down a lot with an acupressure technique called "Tapping". Looks goofy but it works, I'll swear by it. Just Google "Tapping", or go to Tapping.com .
I've used Tapping, Doyletics and Poseing with great success. I would recommend that anyone research these, it will help you stay balanced and calm.

 

I have always been anxious and I think will always be. But when I started in CDL school my anxiety, nervousness were much worse than now. I guess trucking has been "helping" me to overcome this problem. I have to be more patient, slow down, not be so impulsive, take it easy, otherwise I can get into an accident. Trucking has been teaching me a lot on how to deal with my anxiety and even with myself! Breathing exercises are vey helpful too. I used to do them when I was in CDL school....

 

Thanks for this post..I've been recovering for over 4 years now and I wake up the same way, just ready to rock within 5 mins of being up. The difference now is I wake up brush my teeth and take a hand full of vitamins now instead of a shot. I love what I do and the money is important only because I have a family at home but the money is no longer the goal for me (though it is nice to make enough to keep things going) I just truly enjoy the drive. I guess what I'm saying is there are worse things to be out there other than a workaholic

 

I am a little perfectionist too... and that doesn't go very well with the anxiety and the compulsivity and obcession.... Yes, I like to drive and I LOVE THE ROAD but the past 2 weeks I was sleeping between 3 to 5 hrs per night, cause 10 hrs were not enough for me for all the things that I generally do after my 11 straight driving hrs. And that was really killing me. I was feeling worse and worse every time I would drive, my eyes burning, hard to keep them open and focused on the road, pain all over my body, feeling nausea, very irritated, impatient and angry... I thought was going to have a heart attach... Thankfully my company is having some problems with the new computer system and I didn't have any load this past weekend... so I could rest well, "meditate" some, re-evaluate what was going on and what changes I need to make to avoid this crazyness. Yes, nowadays I don't put any *%# in my system any more and don't do the sick things I did in the past but if I have an accident caused by this insanity, isn't that as bad as that???

 

Wow. i'd like to talk more about this with you if i could; i don't know anything about "recovery." i met someone who was/is in "recovery" but i couldn't quite connect. My impression was that he was sort of a "tortured genius" type who was involved in design/construction of major skateparks and was actually to build me skateboard ramps, but like i said we couldn't connect it seems and i decided to construct them myself, grudgingly.


Anyways, i guess my first concern concerns your sleep patterns: Can you describe them in detail? This could be a key to balance.

 

When I started driving, I was used to working 3 full time jobs at the same time. One Law Enforcement and two security jobs. (And I was a Reservist.) Used to carry uniforms in my pickup and go from job to job directly. I went without sleep for a week or more at a time.

For the first 11 or 12 years of driving, I almost never slept. Recently I heard someone mention on a radio talk show that a person will die after a week with no sleep. That's bunk! For years I worked or drove 24/7 for 10 to 12 days at a time. Got a good 12 hours of sleep and did it again. fifteen days is my max limit, I always make myself sleep at that point- just because so many people say it's not healthy.

Maybe I've got some kind of anxiety disorder, but I still have no problem staying up for several days at a time. Seems if I sleep 6 or 8 hours a night, I feel slow and groggy. Trimming back the amount of sleep time keeps me sharp and aware.

Just had a physical exam, the Doc was a tiny little Lady from India. She asked me "Did you forget to fill out the section of your form that listed medications?" I answered, "No, I'm not taking any meds".

So she looked back and forth through the papers in the clipboard and said "I see that you are fifty- two. Why do you take aspirin?" I told her that drivers have a lot of circulation problems, I don't want blood clots in my legs. She says "Well very good for you!" Then "Do you exercise or do anything else for your health like taking vitamins?"

I told her about taking oral chelation therapy (she knew all about it but said she didn't know anyone in the United States was doing it). And I told her about Hydrogen Peroxide therapy. (Been practicing that for about a year and a half).

She was impressed- told me that I will probably live to be very old. I've got an Aunt that just took up scuba Diving in her 80's, she posted pics last fall of her waterskiing on Lake Candlewood in Connecticut..

Anyway, if you're going to push your body hard, feed it properly. Cut down the fats, get rid of ALL the sugar in your diet and fix the damage you're doing. It's my theory that eating the wrong foods will make you sleepier than going without sleep.

Just for the info, you can google Oral Chelation Therapy. Or, go right to the company we buy our stuff from- True Health.com. Look for Dr Cutler's Advanced Artery Cleansing Solution. (I don't have ANY affiliations with them, I just use their products).

I put one tablespoon of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide in a gallon of distilled water and try to drink 3/4 of a gallon a day in summer, 1/2 gallon daily in cool weather. Been doing that for years, too. And taking one 81mg aspirin a day for the last 22 years.

Anyhow, if you're healthy and in shape, don't be so concerned about getting more sleep as long as you're not wrecking your body with the wrong foods. Drink more water than you need, if you smoke, QUIT- stay focused on driving and worry less.

I have used self hypnosis, too- sometimes I have to put myself to sleep with it. You can find info on that anywhere.

 

I think balance is a very personnal thing, it differs from person to person. Of course sleep is very important. Some people feel fine with only 4 hrs sleep per night, others need 6 or 8 or more.... To find balance one needs to know him/herself and what their real needs are in all aspects of their lifes. Some people are sooo used to pushing themselves beyond their healthy limits, they don't "see" or ignore the damage they are doing to themselves.... and sometimes to others too.