Hi,

I just wanted to share a short experience I recently had. I am on tape 11 and have been feeling quite a bit calmer in social situations (talking in public, eating in public). 

About 2 weeks ago, I was part of a panel interviewing people for a job with my organization. I felt somewhat anxious every time it was my turn to ask the interviewee a question, but after the first few minutes of speaking, I felt calmer.

 Later, when assessing how I felt, I felt disappointed with myself for feeling some anxiety and berated myself for not using slow talk. 

After thinking about it further, I realized that I had actually been using slow talk automatically but had not given myself credit for that. I also realized that being a perfectionist, I wanted to feel no anxiety at all. 

This experience showed me how my tendency to perfectionism can get in the way of progress. It also showed me that I have actually gotten much of the therapy deep down into my brain so that slow talk is almost automatic even if I don't recognize it at first.

I hope others can relate to this experience.

 

Sonya