Day 1591: Helpful

If you read any of my helpful posts on this blog, you’ll see that I use the word “helpful” a lot.

I shall now provide helpful links to my four previous helpful posts with “helpful” in the title (here, here, here, and here).

I wonder if it’s helpful for me to remember that the last time I wrote a blog post about a word I use frequently (Day 734: Actually), somebody actually tried to be helpful by advising me about how to use that word less. Is it helpful for me to confess that I don’t want to use the word “helpful” less, because I like the word “helpful”?

Is it helpful for me to speculate why I like the word “helpful” so much?

I guess I like to be helpful to other people, especially in my work as an individual and group therapist. I also think it’s helpful for me to remember that people I want to help are in control of any helpful changes I might wish for them. Perhaps it would be helpful to quote this helpful lightbulb joke right now:

How many psychotherapists does it take to change a lightbulb?

One, but the lightbulb has to really want to change.

Here’s my first helpful photograph from yesterday:

It might be helpful if I explain that photo. “Is that a helpful thought?” can be a helpful challenge to any cognitive distortion, including shoulds, fortune-telling,  catastrophizing, mind-reading, blaming, labeling, comparisons, and overgeneralization. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is a helpful book by Mark Manson.

Are any of my perhaps inexplicable photos from yesterday helpful?

Since people liked the octopus cookie in yesterday’s post, I thought it would be helpful to take and share that last picture.

Here‘s a helpful video from YouTube:

I always find comments from my readers very helpful.

Helpful thanks to all who helped me create this post and — of course! — to helpful you.

Day 1488: Showing Up

Lately, a lot of people have been showing up for my therapy groups.  Last night, “Showing Up” showed up as a topic.

Some people showing up last night thought that “Life is just showing up” was a variant of a quote by Woody Allen. Here’s how that quote is showing up in my Google search:

“Seventy percent of success in life is showing up.” — Woody Allen

“Eighty percent of life is showing up.” — Woody Allen

“Eighty percent of success is showing up.”  — Woody Allen

As usual, different versions of the truth are showing up.

I’ve been showing up more frequently on Twitter:

“Get over it” has never helped anyone get over anything.

There needs to be a new diagnostic code for Trump-related anxiety.

That last tweet showed up because so many people are showing up in my office with Trump-related anxiety.

New photos have been showing up on my iPhone, which means they’ll be showing up in this blog post.

That’s Harley, showing up in the kitchen on some of my clothes. Harley’s fear of the camera is showing up less these days.

A song called “Showing Up” is showing up on YouTube:

Alex G is showing up near the ocean in that video. I wonder if I’ll be showing up near the ocean any time soon?

While I’m not sure exactly how, when, or where I’ll be showing up today, I do know I’ll be showing up at cardiac rehab at 9 AM.

What’s been showing up for you?  How have you been showing up?

I wonder if asking those questions will result in comments showing up, below.

Thanks to all who helped me create this “Showing Up” post and to you — of course! — for showing up, here and now.