Mister Mucus and the ANTs

I don't know why but I've always gotten a big kick out of the Mucinex commercials featuring Mr. Mucus.  My favorite one is when the guy is driving down the road and Mr. Mucus hits the windshield and exclaims I missed you!  He's the little pest that keeps coming back to annoy those who are suffering from a cold or the flu.  The folks he terrorizes keep fighting him off by taking the medication and telling him to go away, always leading to him being shamed or vanquished in some funny way.  In group we talked about ANTs (Automatic Negative Thoughts) and how they continuously pop into our heads without warning or control.  It made me think immediately of Mr. Mucus for some reason; I guess my brain works in strange and interesting ways sometimes.  These ANTs, like the cartoonish character in the commercials, pop up to annoy us and tear us down, making us feel sick in a way.  Thoughts of being ugly, not being good enough, not being worthy, not liking what we see in the mirror in the morning all serve to set us on the path to self-destructive beliefs if they aren't kept in check.  Using coping skills to counteract these ANTs is like taking the much needed medication to dry up the nagging mucus that's clogging our thinking and keeping us from experiencing the happiness and joy we deserve in life.  One of the coping skills we're learning involves employing the three C's:  Catch it, Check it and Change it.  For me, catching it is the big problem.  By the time I seem to recognize that what I'm thinking is an ANT, I've already started skipping merrily down that self-destructive path and often the damage has already been done.  This makes checking it, or thinking rationally about the legitimacy of the thought, much more difficult for me.  I've already convinced myself that it's true, sort of like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.  Lately I'm starting to feel like that dear old college football commentator Keith Jackson as I catch myself yelling whoa nelly!  I need to practice a lot more before I'm at the stage of preemptively taking the medication, catching the ANT before it gets out of hand.  Changing it, or correcting the ANT and transforming it into a positive affirmation, doesn't come easily yet.  I've thought about using post-it notes on my bathroom mirror to display positive affirmations that I read every day, but that makes me feel a bit like Stuart Smalley, for those of you who know who that is.  Reciting I love myself seems a bit hokey but some people swear by it.  I guess such affirmations equate to vanquishing that little annoying mucus dude so maybe I should give it a try!  Stay tuned!  I'll keep you posted.