As one of the fundamental characteristics of OCD is that sufferers are driven to compulsive actions based on a belief that, by undertaking those actions, they can somehow exert control over events that happen in the outside world in order to avoid danger or “bad things” happening, a quote by Hellen Keller speaks quite aptly to this internal conflict that we as OCD sufferers experience about security and danger, risk and control and, as an OCD sufferer, I have found it most helpful for meditating on when I am suffering:
“Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” — Helen Keller
