Apologies to cause the needless looking: You said this to me on the last day I visited as I was leaving. Perhaps not best to recount an exchange that cannot be referenced so please let me know if this is a misrepresentation and I can amend my post.
Yes, when feeling good fantasies or fears (fearful fantasies) do not arise. As far as I can tell such imaginations are triggered by a good feeling or a bad feeling. Once I become aware that I’ve wandered off into imagination, I’ve noticed I can interrupt it with some thinking about what it is that I am presently involved in doing - ie. imagining being somewhere/somewhen else. “Ah, I’m thinking about such-and-such fantasy again…” “Where did this train of thought begin / what feeling is involved / what triggered off that feeling?” “This is similar to this other fantasy/fear I recall, I notice a pattern.” “Is this how I want to spend my time when I could be feeling good or perhaps even having a PCE instead?”
Usually these events occur when I’m alone with nothing in particular to do. So if I’m going to think about anything, why not think about what’s behind it all and where/when it all started? I’ll do this for a bit and then move onto whatever it is that I am already doing anyway. Then later in the day I think about the event again in a similar fashion.
There was one that occurred today and it started due to a good feeling triggered upon receiving some news. I was swept away for approximately 3-5 minutes until I noticed what I was doing and that feeling good had be usurped by good feelings of mild euphoria. I suppose when you notice such a thing, how could you not think about it?
I think I am having a fine time at feeling good/getting back to feeling good, but I could be doing better in regards to up leveling it to enjoying and appreciating being alive. I haven’t quite cracked the code to be able to access that reliably. Currently, enjoying and appreciating being alive is an exception as opposed to the norm.
When I think back on today, there were a handful of interruptions to feeling good, with one major 5-20 minute period into feeling bad. So there is obviously room to raise the bar and extend the periods that I am capable of feeling good. I’ll investigate these interruptions and what caused them, where I was, etc. Many were small things but the 5-20 minute period has to do with a persistent pattern of worrying / feeling overwhelmed by future tasks.