I’m including “no waiting” on that list because I’m currently waiting for four important people to get back to me. In the meantime, I’m trying to create my own heaven on earth by letting go of any anxiety about outcomes as I wait.
Do you see heaven in my images for today?
I assume that somebody’s idea of heaven includes clams on the half shell and/or taters.
I have to finish this blog post now because I have an 8 AM appointment with my dentist. Heaven, for me, would include no dental work but lots of people like Dr. Del Castillo.
Thanks to all who help make this place a heaven on earth for me, including YOU.
Thinking hasn’t really been helping me lately, so I’m identifying with today’s Daily Bitch Calendar.
I’m going to stop thinking altogether that
my worst fears are going to come true,
my fondest wishes are going to come true,
I have any way of accurately predicting the future,
I have any way of accurately knowing what anyone else is thinking, and
thinking will bring me peace.
I’ve stopped thinking altogether anxiously about the future by filling in the blanks of this:
Don’t go to _____ until you’re going to _____.
Examples: “Don’t go to work until you’re going to work.” “Don’t go to the vet until you’re going to the vet.” “Don’t go to the open mic until you’re going to the open mic.”
This altogether stops me from thinking about possible outcomes, which never match what actually happens.
Stop thinking altogether as you enjoy my images for today.
Achieve a calm state as you take in my gratitude to all who helped me create this achieve-a-calm-state post, including my wonderful, dog-loving Primary Care doctor Laura Kate Snydman at Tufts Medical Center, Georgia food writer Angela Hansberger, Thelonius Munk, the Daily Bitch Calendar, and YOU.
Even good people seem to focus on what they’re not good at. I’m not sure if that’s good or not.
I’m not good at
getting enough sleep,
asking for help,
saying “no,”
remembering details,
making a fuss,
taking up space,
goodbyes, and
keeping to myself what I’m not good at.
Do you have a list of what you’re not good at? If you do, does that do you any good?
If you make lists of what you’re not good at, try to get that list out of your head and down on paper (or a screen) so you can consider challenging the items on the list. For example, when I made that list above, I thought better of adding “planning parties,” even though
I’m anxious about planning a party right now,
it’s that anxiety which is inspiring this post, and
I often say, “I’m not good at planning parties.”
The reason I didn’t add “planning parties” to the list was that when I thought it through, I realized that I don’t have a lot of practice planning parties and also every party I’ve ever planned has turned out fine. Therefore, it doesn’t belong on the list of “What I’m Not Good At.” It does belong on the list of “What Makes Me Anxious.”
Also, it’s good to balance out any list of what you’re not good at with a list of what you ARE good at.
I’m good at taking photos to distract myself during stressful times, like traveling and goodbyes.
I’m not good at dealing with the cold, and I took that last shot as I was waiting, alone, for my luggage back in Boston. After I had said “Goodbye” (which I’m not good at) to my ex-in-laws and my son (who remained in Orlando for a little more warmth), I texted them “I miss everyone already!” and my good ex-sister-in-law Deborah sent me this:
It’ll be good to see my son Aaron again when he returns home from University of Edinburgh in May.
I’m not good at keeping things to myself, so here‘s Disney World’s “It’s Tough to Be a Bug” (which I saw yesterday). If you’re not good at tolerating bugs, people screaming, or 3-D without glasses, you may not want to watch it.
Let’s assume that you’re good at making comments and that I’m good at responding back to them.
I’m also good at expressing thanks at the end of each blog post to all who help me create them and — of course! — to YOU.
If, like me, you often wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble getting back to sleep, try this before you go to bed:
Identify what might preoccupy your mind if you did wake up in the middle of the night (like challenging relationships, unfinished business, politics, heath issues, the holidays, ghosts of the past, the news, an upcoming event, money, food, your inadequacies, ugliness, global warming, animals, conspiracy theories, etc.).
Write down one achievable action for each one.
If you can’t identify an achievable action, acknowledge that the situation is beyond your control.
Go to sleep.
When you wake up, remember that you’ve got plans that won’t work in the middle of the night, so there’s no need for your brain to engage.
If your awake-in-the-middle-of-the-night brain comes up another issue you didn’t anticipate, put it on the list of “Things to Do Tomorrow.”
Go back to sleep.
I hope none of my recent photos keep you up at night.
Here‘s something else you can try if you can’t get back to sleep at night:
You could also focus on gratitude. Sincerely, gratitude always helps.
In the midst of insanely upsetting local and global news, it might seem insane to be calm.
Nevertheless, that is my goal: to remain insanely calm.
Taking photos helps me stay insanely calm.
I wonder what the best solution for Person Anxiety is. In other words, what helps you be insanely calm?
Here are the rest of my insanely calm photos for today:
Tea helps me be insanely calm and so do sayings like “Experience will give you the power and confidence to be you” even when my photos are insanely unfocused.
I was drinking delicious and calming Yogi tea last night while Michael and I watched The Phantom Thread, which — now that I calmly think about it — featured people being insanely calm.
The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally 