Hoarding - a Result of Emotional Imbalance

I have a confession – I’m a compulsive “box saver.” Any time something arrives in a sturdy cardboard box I have to save it. My rationalization is that “Christmas is coming” and I’ll need the boxes for wrapping gifts. Or, maybe I’ll decide to sell something on eBay and I’ll need a box. Or, maybe I’ll have one of my bouts of organizing and I’ll need good boxes.

My family laughs at me about this and I annoy myself a little when I’m trying to stack my empty boxes out of the way. But I never considered it a problem until last week-end.

Then, a TV show I saw made me wonder if I was starting down a path to hoarding.

Have you seen that show? It’s all about people who can’t let go of their “stuff” and after a few years their homes turn into huge junk piles. They can’t cook because their kitchen counter tops and tables are covered with 2 or 3 feet of “stuff” and they can’t sit on the couch because it’s covered too. In extreme cases they have little paths to navigate around the house and have to climb over piles of things just to go to bed at night.

The worst of it is that the people doing the hoarding are so ashamed that they cut themselves off from family and friends and don’t allow others to visit their homes, but they can’t seem to stop themselves. They know when they’re going to yard sales and shopping bargain stores that they don’t need any of what they’re bringing home. They know that old newspapers, empty food containers, and broken toasters belong in the trash. But they keep on acquiring and saving.

On the show, the people who are profiled have agreed to treatment from a behavioral psychologist and the filming follows their progress as they learn to part with things. Some of those people exhibit actual pain just from seeing someone else touch something in their piles. And they agonize when anything – even a 3 year old phone book – goes into a trash bag.

The more I thought about it, the more I thought about the underlying problems that would cause a person to hang on to physical objects in this way. Of course the show mentioned depression, but that’s a pretty big catch-all for a lot of emotional disturbances.

So I went to FeelBach.com and started reading about each of the Bach Flower Essences. I decided that Sweet Chestnut might be a good place to start, but since so many different situations and events could trigger a need to hang on to things, I think each person needs to study the lists.

I’ve decided that as long as I can still use my boxes and send them out into the world, I’m OK. But if you’ve started saving things for no reason that you can understand, it might be time to seek some emotional balance. Go to FeelBach.com and study the brief descriptions, then go to www.bachflower.org to read the long versions.

It simply cannot be fun to end up like those poor folks on the Hoarding show!

Is the Daily Grind Grinding You Down?

Do you get up each morning with no enthusiasm for the day ahead? Do you go about your tasks with a lack of energy or interest? Do you feel like every day is just like the one before - and you're sick of it?

It could be that the routine you’ve become comfortable with has got your energies stuck. The mental and physical are no longer interacting and stimulating each other, so an energy deficit has occurred.

We get into these ruts sometimes because we’re afraid to reach out and try something new, or because circumstances have given us no choice. When there’s an important task at hand and we have to stick with it, or when we’ve been confined by an illness, we haven’t much opportunity to add variety to our lives.

That’s OK for short periods, but when it becomes a habit,life can become more of a chore than a joy. Then the real danger is in becoming more and more depressed – and in letting your negative feelings spill over to affect the people you love.

Luckily, when you recognize yourself getting into this state, you can treat it with Bach Flower Essences and get your enthusiasm and love of life back. Hornbeam is the Bach Flower Remedy that treats the feeling of “living in a rut” and allows you to reach out to new experiences – and even to carry on the daily routine with new interest.

If depression has already begun to creep in, the addition of Gentian is advisable. Among other things, Gentian helps to overcome both depression and that “I don’t want to do this” state of mind.

Spring and summer are on the way, and you deserve to look forward to them with joy... So visit FeelBach! today and get the Bach Flower Essences you need to put your energies back in order.

Get Hope Back with Bach Flower Remedies

Sometimes the events in life can make a person feel like there's no use in trying. And the worse part of it is, when you feel like that, your thoughts and feelings seem to draw more unpleasant events to you.

I live with someone who has that problem. He just gets down and has a terrible time finding a reason to even try to get back up.

So... after several months of gentle prodding, I finally convinced him to try Feel Bach's remedy: Get Hope Back. I'll have to admit, I can't get him to be as diligent as he should be - he should take it 4 times a day and he doesn't. But it's helping just the same.

I can see a difference!

People who are depressed often deny it. They really do believe that the world is out to get them, that nothing will ever go right, and there's nothing to be joyful about. It isn't until they come out of the fog that they realize that life really is pretty darned good, even with it's occasional troubles.

That denial is why it took me so long to convince my husband to take Bach flower remedies.

Once many years ago I had a friend who took a prescription drug for depression, and it did help her. I tried to get my husband to take it too, but he refused. Of course now I'm glad. When I see the horrible side effects of those pills, I know that he could have been in worse shape for taking them - they could even have killed him.

My next step is to convince him to take Get Hope Back 4 times a day. Judging from the results I see already, I know he'll thank me later.

If you see yourself in my position, keep working on it. And if you're the one who feels down all the time, just try Bach Flower Remedies. Either use Get Hope Back, or fill out the questionnaire and get a custom blend. You really do deserve to enjoy life!

Springtime - a time of joy or depression?

Spring is here - at least that's what the calendar says.

But alas, here in North Idaho it forgot to arrive. Instead of looking out the window at daffodils and tufts of green grass, we watched the snow sliding from our roof all day.

It could be easy to get depressed over that, but our soil really did need extra moisture after several mild winters, so we're all working hard to pretend it doesn't matter if we can't plant our gardens in time to grow more than lettuce and spinach this year.

Unfortunately, for some the long winter just adds to a depressed frame of mind. And others will be pulled into deeper sadness by this coming week-end. Most Americans will be celebrating Easter - with religious services or with colored eggs and chocolate bunnies - or both. But most will be celebrating somehow, and usually with friends and family.

For those who don't have friends or family nearby, it can be a tough week-end.

If that's you, Bach Flower Essences can help. They can't change the weather, and they can't directly bring people into your life to ease lonliness, but they can help you cope.

Plus, if lonliness is getting you down, by rebalancing your energies, flower essences can help you project a more positive attitude toward the world, which very often results in bringing new and wonderful people into your life.

When we get down, we spiral further down and people tend to shy away because it just isn't much fun to be around someone who is unhappy. But when our own attitudes begin to lift and we begin to accept and embrace the joy and good that surrounds us, people feel that and are drawn to us.

If you feel "down" you may not even be sure why, but the questionaire at Feel Bach! can help you sort it out.

I wish you joy - this week-end and all year long...

Does winter weather make you feel depressed?

For some, light therapy works to ease that heavy burden, but for others, it's a chronic energy imbalance that is made worse by the feelings of hopelessness that winter weather brings.

Maybe you've been on that edge for months or years, but when snow and rain and cold weather prevent you from doing things you want or need to do, a heavier feeling sets in. One that tells you there's just no use in trying.

But of course there is - you simply need to lift yourself up. Not an easy task on your own, but with the help of Bach Flower Essences it becomes do-able. The essences work to re-balance your energies, giving you back hope and enthusiasm for life.

Try a blend of Wild Rose, Gorse, and Sweet Chestnut. Give yourself the gift of feeling good again - so you can not only enjoy the rest of winter, but the friendlier seasons to come.

Visit FeelBach! today and get started on the road to hope and good cheer.