Day 4039: Time to celebrate you

Yesterday, in a hospital gift shop, I appreciated this reminder that it’s time to celebrate you.

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Time to celebrate you, me, and everything else in this blog post.

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Time to celebrate you and the Daily Bitch, perhaps with a cheeseburger and a nap.

Here’s what I find when I search for “time to celebrate you.”

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Now, it’s time to celebrate you with my heartfelt thanks.

Day 3997: Find Beauty Everywhere

Yesterday, in a hospital gift shop, I found this request to find beauty everywhere.

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Believe me, I try to find beauty everywhere, but that’s very challenging these days.

For example, it will be very difficult for many of us to find beauty anywhere if Donald Trump (who seems to be everywhere) is re-elected President. Last night, I even found him in a nightmare, which was the opposite of beautiful.

For now, let’s see if we can find beauty everywhere in this post.

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I find beauty in the Daily Bitch and here’s what I find when I search for “Find Beauty Everywhere.”

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Beautiful thanks to Liis Burket and to all who help me find beauty everywhere, including YOU.

Day 3969: Considering the options

When people in therapy ask my advice and I’m considering the options of how I might respond, I often invite them to consider their options, make a list of pros and cons, and use wise mind (a combination of logic and feeling) to make their decision.

When I was considering the options for today’s blog post title, I noticed the Daily Bitch Calendar.

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Butter IS very delicious.

When I’ve been considering the options for commuting to work on Mondays, I choose the harbor ferry whenever I can, because the views and the fresh air are so delicious.

Considering the options, what’s your favorite image for today?

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Considering the options, I’m going to choose Loosen Up Lighten Up Day as I provide individual and group therapy from home and also finish writing my newest original song.

Considering the options on YouTube for “considering the options,” here’s what I choose:

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Considering my options for ending any blog post, I always choose gratitude for YOU.

Day 3941: New words

Out of all the words I’ve been reading lately, I noticed a new word yesterday.

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Are there new words in my other images for today?

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Is “mulligan” a new word to you?

Here’s what I find when I search YouTube for “new words.”

I have great thankitude for those who read the new words and old words in this daily blog, including YOU.

Day 3913: Happy mediums

For the last few weeks, I’ve been writing a song — “I Don’t Wanna Be Late (Don’t Wanna Be Early Either)” — which is about maintaining happy mediums.

As I’ve realized how many happy mediums we struggle to maintain, I’ve added verse after verse, until the song is now over 13 minutes long.

I assume that people don’t wanna listen to a song that’s too long (or too short), but this morning I’ve written a new verse about my needing to maintain a different happy medium. I won’t record this verse but I will share it with you:

My INR can’t be low. It can’t be too high either.

As all my doctors know, to survive I have to be neither.

What’s so bad if my INR’s too low?

Strokes and a clogged mechanical heart valve, Bro.

What’s so bad if the INR’s high?

Over-bleeding, I might be needing to say goodbye.

A year ago, my INR was too low and I had a mini-stroke. Since then, I’ve been working hard to maintain happy mediums for my INR (above 2.7) until this unexpected reading on Sunday:

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No one was happy about this and to regain a happy medium, I’ve injected myself with something called Lovenox, stopped eating greens, and upped my dosage of Coumadin. But we don’t want me to go too high, either, so I’ll be retesting myself this morning.

In the meantime, do you see happy mediums in the rest of my images for today?

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I need to get ready to retest my INR, hoping that nobody has to take me to a doctor today. If the INR is not a happy medium, I’ll be talking like a pirate (“Arrrrggghhhh!”)

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Arrrgghh! Now it’s too high. (It’s suppose to be below 3.5). As some of us suspected, Sunday’s too-low reading was false one. (That’s the first time I’ve experienced that with my home monitor.) I’m happy that I challenged my doctor’s initial plan for me to inject myself twice a day and wait to retest until Friday. And happy that I’m well on my way to restoring my happy medium.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “happy mediums.”

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Thanks to all who do their best to maintain happy mediums, including YOU!

Day 3906: Encouragement

I think we all need encouragement as we make our way through this challenging world.

Here’s a great Goethe quote about encouragement:

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Do you see encouragement in my images for today?

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On this National Day of Encouragement, I wonder what I’ll find when I search YouTube for “encouragement.”

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Thanks to all who give me encouragement, including YOU!

Day 3857: The value of a moment

In mindfulness exercises, I invite members of my Coping and Healing groups to appreciate the value of a moment.

I value the moment when I saw this yesterday in the hospital gift shop:

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I especially value that today because Twitter — where I’ve spent many wonderful moments connecting with thousands of terrific people — is becoming a memory.

Can you see the value of a moment in my other images for today?

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I’m case you haven’t noticed, I DO Give A F about the value of a moment.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “the value of a moment.”

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Thanks to all who help me appreciate the value of a moment, including YOU.

Day 3815: What’s next?

Even though I encourage people to stay in the moment, it’s difficult not to wonder what’s next.

What’s next is something I saw in the hospital gift shop yesterday.

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What’s next is

• my recommending the movie All That Breathes and
• all my other images for the day.

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What’s next is my telling you that I almost titled this blog post “A Piece of the Immense Universe” …

… or “Take a look at this!”

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What’s next is searching YouTube for “What’s next?” (and not for YouTube socks).

What’s next is — of course! — thanks from me to you.

Day 3746: You are here

You are here and so am I. As I say in every Coping and Healing group, thanks for showing up exactly the way you are here.

You are here, perhaps, to see my images for today.

You are here to witness how amazing it is that a carrot-colored man who tells lies and has been accused of sexual assault is being indicted on International Carrot Day, Tell a Lie Day, National Sexual Assault Awareness Month’s Day of Action Day, and (if all that weren’t enough) World Rat Day.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “you are here.”

You are here and I am so grateful that you are!

Day 3732: Storytelling

Because I’ve been an English Major, a writer, a teacher, and psychotherapist, I am very interested in storytelling.

Here, now, are some of my storytelling thoughts:

• We have old, limiting stories we tell about ourselves (some of which are unconscious repetitions of stories others have told about us) that can hold us back from telling new, more expansive, inclusive, and fulfilling stories.
• Storytelling can help heal ourselves, others, and the world (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it, as some storytellers say).
• Storytelling, whether fact or fiction, always includes important truths.
• Every day, in this blog, I am storytelling through words and pictures (which I try to organize into some sort of story).

That’s a very long list to integrate into coherent storytelling, isn’t it?

Here’s something I’m glad to find on YouTube when I look for “storytelling.”

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I look forward to the storytelling in the comments section and thanks to all who read my daily storytelling, including YOU!