Using the "so what if" response

This is something I find useful every now and again. Let's say we become tangled up in a difficult mental state or situation. Perhaps we feel that we have lost control and we are being subjected to something that is beyond our ability to fix. So, for example:

- I feel ill
- I have all these symptoms
- it seems kind of impossible
- then, we might say to ourselves "so what if I am ill"
- perhaps the answer comes back, "I can't do what other people do"
- "so what if I have to rest all day"
- and so on, until we reach the conclusion that there is no real reason to feel oppressed at all. It's just a judgement that you've holding against yourself.

You get the idea. It gives the mind a little way out of a corner. You have to be careful not to over use this technique though - "so what if I pissed you off", etc. There's a kind of aggression when used in this manner.