Packing Intolerance

I think that everyone would agree that moving is stressful. I am moving in a few short days, and I have been feeling beyond stressed. There is so much to do and so many moving parts to coordinate. Just thinking about it makes me anxious. As such, I have spent a great deal more time than I care to admit, avoiding. Rather than pack, I engaged in a myriad of other more “preferable” activities such as doing laundry, food shopping and making lists. Making lists is something I have realized that I do, as it is sort of helpful, however it allows me to avoid taking any significant action. In any event, my avoidance has not gotten me very far  and it certainly has not helped me pack or forward my mail or change my address on my drivers license.

An astute supervisor of mine recently told me, “Don’t avoid anything” and I am going to try my best to take his advice. Avoidance only makes things worse as it is reinforcing. With respect to my upcoming move, it is my frustration intolerance that has been functionally impairing. I know cerebrally that I could stand the discomfort of preparing to move because this is not the first time in my life that I moved. I have moved several times before, and while I don’t love the process, I can certainly stand it. However in the moment as I think of all that I have to do, it feels too much. Therefore in an attempt to do REBT on myself, I had myself rehearse a rational alternative belief to “I cannot stand it”. I repeated, “Its not fun to move, but I can stand it…I’ve stood it before”.

And to be honest, it helped. By repeating the rational alternative belief, I began to feel less anxious and more able to tackle the tasks at hand. I still have plenty left to do over the next few days, but I am in a better mindset to do them. That is a very good thing.