“You shouldn’t run away from your problems, you need to aim straight for the heart of the beast.”
~Ruby Wax
Hell Yeah!
Being the dude I am, I swing from take no prisoners to run and hide pretty frequently.
Currently, I’m in kick ass mode.
For example, my previous post spoke to an encounter with my Father-In-Law in which he told me what he thinks of my handiness around our home. That interaction is a problem. Just a few weeks ago I would have melted down. There would have been days of brooding about, feeling sorry for myself, isolating and possibly shutting down completely.
There are new reactions to negative interactions in my toolbox now. Instead of freaking completely out, I chilled. Instead of brooding about for days, I considered ways to alter opinions. Instead of obsessing over the entire thing, I’ve spent relatively little time thinking on it.
I will admit that it HAS affected me. I did brood about it some, last night. I did get a little pissy, last night. This is, however, an ENORMOUS VICTORY for me. I didn’t shut down.
The thing I’m most fired up about boils down to this: There’s nothing I can do to change what people think of my past. I can only control the here and now. Never, NEVER
N E V E R before was I able to even remotely grasp the thought of possibility of the existence of that concept.
What a victory!!
My Journey Through Sex Addiction 
I think it is really great that you are dealing with things better and are also seeing that you are doing that. You are seeing growth in yourself and that is awesome!!!! My husband is the king of shutting down and he is in that mode right now. I have no idea what to do about it and I am tired of talking about it. He is in self pity mode and totally shut off. His doctor took him off of his antidepressants about a month and a half ago or cut them way down anyhow and it seems to me that since then he has been just going downhill and resorting back to his old behaviours. I have tried talking to him about this but he will not listen or do anything about it. It is exhausting and I have run out of steam and patience. I am really happy to know that you are working so hard and trying to learn and improve. You should be very very proud of yourself!!!!!