what is the most helpful / best advice you’ve ever been told about struggling with ocd

Hiya, Oh gosh, it's hard to narrow it down. I think it'd be that embracing uncertainty isn't just how you treat OCD, it's rewarding in and of itself. OCD can make your life incredibly small, and embracing uncertainty is how you start to open it up again. I am slowly learning to value risk and imperfection, because that's where the magic of life lies. Embracing uncertainty has meant experiencing some bad things, sure--but it's also meant experiencing some wonderful things, too. Things I wouldn't have gotten to experience if I had kept letting OCD run the show. The other thing would be that it can be helpful to personify your OCD. Lots of people name their OCD so they're able to separate it from themselves and talk back to it. Lots of people imagine their OCD as a monster, and every day they ride out like a knight to do battle against it. I see my OCD as a well-meaning friend who genuinely wants to protect me, but who has spectacularly bad advice. So when she starts telling me what I should do, I can calmly say "thanks hon, I appreciate that you're trying to help, but I don't need your help. I got this." It's just a way of framing things that makes your OCD a bit easier to resist. Best of luck! <3