We all need escapes from
Do you see escapes in my images for today?
Here’s what I find when I search for escapes on YouTube:
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Thanks to all who share in my escapes, including YOU!
Perhaps you’ve heard the expression “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,” which speaks to the cognitive distortion of comparison, where we see ourselves and our circumstances as lesser than other people and their situations.
Now that we’ve gotten to the other side of that opening run-on sentence, I can tell you that today is Grass is Always Browner on the Other Side of the Fence Day, which according to the National Days website “reminds people to appreciate what they have instead of focusing on what other people have. This is a great day to practice gratitude for all the good things in your life and remind yourself that no matter how good things look on the other side, you never know the whole story.”
In other words, don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides — a phrase I have written on my white board at work.
I just tried unsuccessfully to find a picture of “don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides” on my white board, but I found this instead:
In that photo of a neighbor’s yard, the grass is always browner on the other side of the fence (but the dog doesn’t seem to care).
I know this is a stretch, but the bathroom tile is always browner on the other side of the shower door, which is being installed today.
In other shower news, I can get rid of the intermittent banging noises in the pipes simply by lowering the water temperature, which is probably for the best. I’m glad to be on the other side of the fence of the anger I blogged about yesterday.
I’m on the fence about whether today’s other images are appropriate for Grass is Always Browner on the Other Side of the Fence Day. What do you think?
I can’t even imagine being on the other side of the fence of 12 hours of sleep, but I’m not going to compare my insides to the Daily Bitch’s outsides.
Here’s what’s on the other side of the fence at YouTube:
Thanks to all who are on the other side of the fence with me here and now, including YOU!
Perhaps you’ve heard the expression “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,” which speaks to the cognitive distortion of comparison, where we see ourselves and our circumstances as lesser than other people and their situations.
Now that we’ve gotten to the other side of that opening run-on sentence, I can tell you that today is Grass is Always Browner on the Other Side of the Fence Day, which according to the National Days website “reminds people to appreciate what they have instead of focusing on what other people have. This is a great day to practice gratitude for all the good things in your life and remind yourself that no matter how good things look on the other side, you never know the whole story.”
In other words, don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides — a phrase I have written on my white board at work.
I just tried unsuccessfully to find a picture of “don’t compare your insides to other people’s outsides” on my white board, but I found this instead:
In that photo of a neighbor’s yard, the grass is always browner on the other side of the fence (but the dog doesn’t seem to care).
I know this is a stretch, but the bathroom tile is always browner on the other side of the shower door, which is being installed today.
In other shower news, I can get rid of the intermittent banging noises in the pipes simply by lowering the water temperature, which is probably for the best. I’m glad to be on the other side of the fence of the anger I blogged about yesterday.
I’m on the fence about whether today’s other images are appropriate for Grass is Always Browner on the Other Side of the Fence Day. What do you think?
I can’t even imagine being on the other side of the fence of 12 hours of sleep, but I’m not going to compare my insides to the Daily Bitch’s outsides.
Here’s what’s on the other side of the fence at YouTube:
Thanks to all who are on the other side of the fence with me here and now, including YOU!
Last week, when the social workers at my hospital gathered together in person for the first time in three years for a team-building event, I didn’t think “here comes trouble” because I have a high level of immunity to COVID (completely boosted, with a recent bout of the virus in February).
When the social workers were asked to briefly introduce ourselves and perhaps include our favorite ice cream flavor, I said my name, where I worked in the hospital, “Rocky Road, and I’m wearing socks that say ‘here comes trouble.’”
Here comes trouble: since then, I’ve wondered if saying I was wearing “here comes trouble” socks was too
Here comes trouble — human minds usually search for the negatives to try to keep ourselves safe, but that can cause useless and troubling thoughts. There’s enough real trouble in the world without wasting time on “here comes trouble” cognitive distortions, like mind-reading.
Here comes some personal, health-related trouble. Before I test my INR with my home device every other Sunday morning, I’m feeling “here comes trouble” feelings and thinking “here comes trouble” thoughts. Here comes the explanation: if the number that appears on my measuring device is not between the small range of 3.0 – 3.5, here comes trouble for me. Since I had a mini-stroke in September when my INR was 2.4, I have the trouble of needing to give myself an injection if the number is below 2.7. Also, if the INR number is too low, my mechanical heart valve could get clogged and need replacement with another very troubling open heart surgery. And if the number is above 3.5, that could cause troubling bleeding.
Whenever I test my INR, I always have to wait what feels like a troublingly long time (probably only about 10 seconds) to find out if here comes trouble. Here comes my INR result for today from here-comes-trouble me …
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Here comes relief! Now I’ll wait another two weeks to see if here comes trouble again.
Let’s see if here comes trouble in my other images for today.
Because I do my best to keep my INR in the no-trouble range by eating the right amount of spinach — which contains anti-coagulating vitamin K — every single day, here comes my celebration of National Spinach and Spinach Festival Day!
Let’s see what I find when I search for “here comes trouble” on YouTube.
Here comes gratitude from me for all who helped me write this here-comes-trouble post, including YOU!
Who needs a break from
Maybe today’s images will give us a break.
I don’t know about you, but I definitely need a break from being appropriately confused by certain technology.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “who needs a break?”
I’m glad that judge gave that Ann a break.
Many thanks to all those who need a break, including YOU!
I tell people in my Coping and Healing groups that what sticks in our minds tends to be negative, so we need to consciously let go of unhelpful and distorted thoughts and reinforce helpful reframes.
What sticks for me, here and now, is
What sticks in my images for today?
If I stick to my healthier eating habits, I won’t be having any sticky waffles or pies today.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “what sticks”:
Please stick any thoughts and feelings you choose to share in the comments section, below.
What sticks at the end of my posts is my thanks to all who help me create this daily blog, including YOU.
I’ll be taking a vacation from work, but not from blogging, starting two weeks from today.
Here and now, I feel like I need vacations from
I don’t know why I can’t seem to take permanent vacations from those, but any vacation at all feels great!
Do you see vacations in my images for today?
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In North America, we take vacations; elsewhere, it’s holidays.
Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “vacations.”
There will be no vacation from gratitude on this blog, so thanks to all who visit here, including YOU!
I’m having trouble keeping up with many things these days, including
Let’s see if I’m keeping up with the latest definition of “keeping up.”
Keeping up with the first definition and with my role as a psychotherapist, I keep telling people not to keep comparing themselves with others, because that keeps them feeling bad about themselves. If you want to keep up with definitions of comparisons and other cognitive distortions (which I keep calling “automatic and unhelpful thoughts), I’m keeping those definitions here.
I’m keeping up with blogging every day by sharing my thoughts, my feelings, and the photos and other captured images I’m keeping up on my phone (which may explain why my phone is slowing down and having trouble keeping up with me these days) (but that’s not keeping me up at night).
Do you see keeping up in my images for today?
Today I’ll be keeping up with the National Days by seeking out my favorite flavor of ice cream, Rocky Road. Keeping up with National Leave the Office Early Day is challenging, since Thursdays I work late until 8, but I’m working from home (which I keep doing, except for Mondays, when I’m keeping up with work at the hospital).
Keeping up with the theme of irresistible dance music, here’s “Everybody Walk the Dinosaur” by Was (Not Was).
If you comment below, I’ll try keeping up with you by answering as soon as I can.
I’m keeping up with my tradition of taking photos of thank you’s so I can express my gratitude every day for all those who are keeping up with me, including YOU.
Last night, I asked a question on Twitter about what people try to avoid:
The many interesting answers include COVID, toxic people, bullets, crowds, drinking, certain types of food, conflict, drama, and (of course!) last questions of the day. There is no avoiding the cleverness and resourcefulness of the people on Twitter.
I notice we humans also try to avoid difficult feelings, like grief — which is a problem during these grief-inducing times. I believe we need to welcome all our feelings as a way to move through them. Even though I’ve shared it before, I will not avoid presenting this wonderful poem by Rumi:
I’ve also observed that people can avoid taking action — for fear of failure, mistakes, or a “wrong” decision. When I feel frozen by fear (a state I try to avoid), I move forward by reminding myself to avoid that very human tendency for all-or-nothing thinking. Most decisions are not 100% wrong or right, after all. I’m not going to avoid making mistakes and I can usually correct for a decision that isn’t great. I don’t avoid reminding myself, over and over again, that failure is a construct and that my missteps are not the end of the world.
At the same time, I avoid voting for the wrong people because these days that could definitely be the end of the world.
I’m not avoiding sharing my latest images with you.
Coincidentally, I try to avoid assholes, kale, and bacon.
Here’s what comes up on YouTube when I search for “what we try to avoid.”
I hope you don’t avoid the comments section, below, and I never avoid expressing gratitude for all those who help me blog every day, including YOU!
I’m responsible for taking this photo yesterday.
That got me thinking: Who IS responsible for damage?
I’m responsible for having conflicting thoughts about this question.
If we focus on blame (which is also a cognitive distortion), that can get in the way of moving forward with next steps for solutions. But if we don’t take responsibility, we’re likely to remain stuck in old patterns.
Maybe we can be responsible for our own lives — mistakes and all — AND resist getting stuck in blame and finger-pointing.
Who’s responsible for the images in today’s post?
People sometimes ask me who’s responsible for those National and International Days, and the truth is that I don’t know. But I’m celebrating National Scribble Day by being responsible for this daily scribble of a blog.
When I search for “Responsible” I find this …
… and the original, “Le Responsable” by Jacques Dutronc.
I’m responsible for expressing my thanks to all who helped me create this post, including YOU.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 