Hello everybody! I wanted to give you some news because it's been a while… and I wanted to know how all of you are doing. I hope that you stay strong and that you keep fighting the days when you have enough energy to not give in the compulsions. As for me, since I've taken the decision to stop ruminating and to stop giving in pure-O, I've been doing much better. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, and that is something. Sometimes I feel like I'm finding the old me again. I'm able to let go of the thoughts most of the time, and I would never have thought this was possible (I don't even know if my grammar is correct but whatever haha). And I try to not freak out the days when my OCD gets bad and I'm not able to fight the thoughts. I've understood that this was normal… I'm not perfect after all, so I try to not be too impatient and I distract myself and the thoughts disappear little by little. To summarize, since I've applied the 4-step method to my everyday life, things improved. Calling obsessions by what they are – obsessions, relabelling the intrusive thoughts changed everything. By not giving the thoughts much importance and by realizing that they don't have the power to control me, I've made progress. Usually, they fade out rather quickly, and if they don't, well, they eventually do, even if it takes time. I still have to talk a lot more about one or two obsessions that bother me to my therapist (you know it's rather tough to open up sometimes), but I feel like I'm on the path of recovery. I don't take medication, but I feel okay, and this makes me hopeful as well.

But anyway, I initially wanted to tell you that I got my year at university, I passed!! 😀 And what's even more funny is that my grades are better than last year, when my OCD didn't have any impact on my studies! So yeah, I'm supra happy. I feel like this is a victory because well.. this year was a struggle. And I feel much more confident… this shows that OCD can't control my life. It's my reaction to the thoughts that count. So I'm officially a senior college student next year, and hopefully, I'll be better at managing my OCD by then… I have a lot of progress to do, but I'm pretty confident. I hope everybody is doing okay. If you have vacations, enjoy your summer!! 😀