Little by little...

The best trick you as a sufferer can learn is to not to look ahead too much. Try not to sit there and fret about the big picture and the big things that eventually you will need to conquer, for they are not important right now.....put them out of your mind and concentrate on the small challenges that you have set for yourself right now.

We should not concentrate too much on all the big things that we can't do (and for each sufferer they are different....some may dread the thought of standing on their doorstep, others the thought of flying overseas). No matter what level of recovery you are at, this is a very important lesson. When we concentrate on all the big things, recovery seems impossible, implausible, something that is just too big for us ever to achieve. Then depression and total fright overwhelms us and freezes us into inaction.

The trick is just to concentrate on the small steps. On your small goal at hand. Again, these small goals are different for each and every sufferer. For one agoraphobic the small goal to work towards might be to be able to just hold the front door handle, for another it might be to be able to sit in the airport for an hour.

It is very easy to become despondent with the thought of....gee, it is so hard just to do this small step, how am I ever going to be able to do the big things ever again??

But you must not, it is self-destructive thinking. Don't look to the big, look down and knuckle down facing your small challenge. And remind yourself over and over as you achieve those small aims, that they all add to the big picture.
For that small challenge, that small goal that you are working towards is important and special beyond your wildest dreams..... Simply because they add up. They build confidence and an understanding. They extend into bigger targets as time goes by.

Lao Tse said " A thousand mile journey begins with one step"....and that is the wisest reminder for an agoraphobic. Those small baby steps, those little goals that you work hard towards to achieve, all add to the bigger picture.
No matter what level of recovery you are at, DON'T fret about the big picture, because all of those baby steps add up and solve that problem for you. Concentrate on your small task at hand and let the future take care of itself.

What seems unreachable and impossible now, will one day be conquered. If you focus on the big things, it's easy to become despondent and daunted by such a large aim. But breaking it down into smaller levels focuses your thoughts on that which can be done, and once you've achieved those, you will begin to find positives.

Just worry about that baby step and let the thousand mile journey take care of itself....

And it will.

Becki