My Safe

I think that I have sort of meandered away from the point of this blog, which was to talk about how I am learning to function despite my depression and anxiety. So, on that note, I am going to discuss some coping I have been doing lately.
One of my favorite things my therapist taught me was a certain type of visualization. See, I have the habit of repeating negative things over and over in my head, as well as obsessing about certain things in my life. One of the things I obsess about the most is how others view me and how I can fix their problems. Oh, also how they annoy the living crap out of me.
Back to the visualization. In this visualization I am to envision a box. I don't know what other people make their boxes out of; cardboard, wood, a nice reed weave would be quite popular I imagine. Not mine. My box is a safe made of the strongest metal I know of...mithril. I don't care if it is fictional, that shit is not letting anything in or out. My mithril safe has a combination on it that is super secret; no one knows my combination but me.
So what do I do with my box? Simple. I put things in it that are causing me anxiety at the time. Let's use an example. Sometimes I think of a certain man; I think of him a lot and it is often not helpful to my relaxation. To deal with this, I put the man in my safe and I lock it shut. When the man is in the safe, I cannot think about him. If I do think about him, I throw him back into the safe.
Now we come to why I like this visualization the most; I have to set a time when I will let the thoughts out of the safe and deal with them. Example: if I can't stop thinking about something when I am trying to fall asleep, I put it in my safe and allow it out in the morning. Another situation would be when I have to work or go to an appointment. If I am thinking of my sisters' problems or how much I can't stand my mother, I lock them in the safe with their release date being when my task is done.
I find this to be something that has been a help to me lately. I can't think of everything at once, and if I am anxious my concentration level falls fast. It's nice to be able to get things done while also giving myself time to deal with my emotions. I still dissociate a bit by zoning out into the television or playing games on the computer, but I find my productivity rapidly improving.
The real test of this exercise will come with this start of a new job that I am facing. So far I haven't had to use my safe due to being too busy, but I know the time will come when I will have to. It's harder to do when there are other people around, yet I have faith that I can do it. If people around me keep telling me that my faith inspires them, it is sure to be true, and I will succeed in what I need to do.