OCD

July 20, 2022 –

Last night, my wife and I enjoyed two episodes of Mr. Monk on Amazon Prime. I don’t know how I missed viewing the original 125 episodes. The show’s star, Adrian Monk, is an ex-prominent homicide detective in the San Francisco Police Department who has a pervasive preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, and control (OCD) but continues to solve crimes.

In the movie “As Good as It Gets,” the lead character Melvin Played by Jack Nicholson, is at war with his world, tyrannizing his neighbors and all who get in his carefully ordered path. But he meets a server, Carol (Helen Hunt), at his local diner, who changes his life. There is a point where the changed Melvin tells Carol, “You make me a better man.”

The person with OCD has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts and behaviors that they feel the urge to repeat repeatedly. Many people who don’t have OCD still exhibit habits they repeat over and over. Past failures become a mantra, continually reminding us we will never be happy and prosperous.

Don’t try to avoid the cracks in the sidewalk of life. And don’t let unreasonable thoughts and fears (obsessions) lead you to compulsive behaviors. You can change. Turn your persistent preoccupation with orderliness, perfectionism, fears, and anxieties over to God. And He will make you a better person.