Day 1650: If you’re feeling down

What do you do if you’re feeling down?

Sometimes, if I’m feeling down, I go to a favorite restaurant. Last night, when Michael and I were at our favorite Chinese restaurant, I looked down and saw this:

Things DO look up if you look up an old friend. Try it if you’re feeling down.

When I was younger, I’d escape in a book if I was feeling down.

These days, blogging and taking pictures are a perfect cure for feeling down.

 

Those of us who are down with taking Coumadin  need to get our blood checked regularly. A perfect INR  of 3.1 —  not too down and not too up —  is another perfect cure for feeling down.

If I’m feeling down, sometimes I wear interesting socks.

My Coumadin nurse, Kathleen, looked down yesterday and felt less down when she saw my socks.

That’s Kathleen, looking down at her phone as she takes a picture of those socks and sends it to her old friend who was feeling down sitting in a bullsh*t meeting at the hospital.

I also listen to music if I’m feeling down.

If you’re feeling down (or up), please look down and leave a comment. If I’m feeling down, I read your comments and feel better.

If I’m feeling down, expressing gratitude always helps.

Warmest thanks to all who helped me create everything in this down-and-up post and — of course! — to you, for being awesome.

Day 284: We never know how we affect people (The Ta-Da Pose)

I think, within the last 283 days,  I wrote another blog post about this:

We never know how we affect people

However,  I can’t locate that post right now.

But that’s not really important. Here’s what I wanted to write about, today.

Many years ago, I was driving alone at night, feeling low and discouraged about something.

I can’t remember what the hell I was feeling bad about, now.  (Isn’t that usually the way it works?  Problems that seem so important at the time often fade away, as time passes,  to nothing.)

I remember I was about to exit a supermarket parking lot, and I was waiting for a pedestrian to walk by.

I remember that pedestrian, quite well.  I wish I had a picture of him that I could share with you.

But I don’t.

Let’s see if I can capture and convey the experience to you.

I think the guy was wearing something unusual. I don’t have a great visual memory, so I can’t tell you what kind of clothing he had. But I think it was casual.  Maybe it was colorful.

He wasn’t  a serious, conventional business person. I know that. He looked like a “free spirit.” Again, my visual memory, for details, is fuzzy.

Here’s what I do remember clearly. As he crossed in front of my car, he caught my eye.

And without missing a beat, he made a “Ta-Da!” gesture.  That is, he stopped, smiled, put his arms out, and maybe even jumped a little, as if he was hearing, or making, a silent, triumphant trumpet noise.

.

(Just for fun,  I’m going to Google-Image “Ta Da Pose” and see what I get.  Amazing!  Here’s the first thing that comes up:

Here’s another one, with eye contact:

)

That night, after the guy struck that Ta Da Pose ever-so-briefly,  he moved on.

I remember smiling back, then. Maybe I even laughed a little. (I’m not sure, because I was, after all, feeling very down.)

But I do remember this: I drove away, after this brief encounter, feeling changed.  Feeling better.

And to this day, when I am walking down the street, feeling and showing joy, I often think about that guy I met, many years ago.

He made a difference to me.

And who knows?  Maybe I sometimes make a difference like that, too.

Thanks to that guy, Endorphin Dude,  pose-strikers everywhere, and to you, of course, for reading today.