Just realized that the UTI entry I just wrote is a great example of a style of thinking I have ;) I went into that much detail, more even in my head, and I don't even know if I actually have a UTI. And although lousy, its not the end of the world, and even if it is, there's not a whole lot that analyzing it to death can do at this point in time.

I tend to get into those super pessimistic analyzations about a lot of things, although I don't tend to type them out very often, thankfully :)

I'm also very influenced by other people in this realm. If encouraged I will take it even further and make myself more anxious and pessimistic. Unfortunately positive influence doesn't seem to be nearly as powerful as negative, but my own interventions do help, as with Patri's, and avoiding the negative is definitely a huge improvement. I'm plenty analytical of negatives without help ;)

Thanks largely to Patri's observations I've started being more careful about what I talk about with people and to avoid conversations that tend to bring this out in me.

His making me conscious of how much it effects my moods has helped me a lot. He's so aware of it because my moods affect him a fair bit. It makes a big difference to me and how proactive I am that it effects him. I question why I am willing to draw boundaries on his behalf more so than my own. Perhaps its because his being bothered upsets me in a way that makes me more conscious than being upset myself. But I'm still not yet satisfied with my understanding ;)

Also a worthwhile observation in general: if you make yourself miserable you also to some degree make those who care about you miserable. And vice-versa.

I think that sharing one's heartaches I very worthwhile and I do enjoy working through problems with people even when it makes me sad to some degree, but I've decided that since it does take a toll on me I am only going to do so with people who I think are really trying to help themselves. My grandmother was very fond of the saying "God helps those who help themselves." I agree with her in the same way as discussed in lovelyslr's recent post. To me its a case of influencing one's luck, but same difference. Strong emotions are powerful and can be addictive even when negative, so I think sometimes people are just stuck in cycles of craving powerful emotions and don't strive to break the cycle for fear of withdrawals, and there's really no helping them until if and when they hit bottom and decide that the long term is worth the short term pain.

But back out of that negative thought loop ;) Yup... time for bed.... ;) Its amazing how much time of day effects how emotional I am. I think that's true for a lot of people. Hence why dates tend to be mostly in evenings ;)