Day 3742: Control

When I write notes for my Coping and Healing groups, the list of discussed topics usually includes “what we can and cannot control.”

I often say, in group and elsewhere, that we cannot control other people’s behaviors but we can control how we react to them.

Last night, I couldn’t control how people in the 5:30 group responded to the breaking news of Trump being indicted, but I could control my response (which was to name their happy giddiness and then reinforce the structure of the group).

Do you see control in my images for today?

It seems that the Daily Bitch, who is funny that way, has trouble controlling her bladder.

During the almost-two-year process of repairing the severe water damage in our upstairs bathroom, there were so many things I couldn’t control, but I could control my reactions plus the tile choices for the remodel. Here’s the video the shower door installer created yesterday of the now-finished project:

You can’t control what I blog about, but you can control how you respond (perhaps with a comment, below).

I can control how I end these blog posts, which is always with gratitude for YOU.

Day 3741: The other side of the fence

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!

Day 3741: The other side of the fence

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!

Day 3740: Anger

Some people believe that depression is anger directed at the self. I am trying to avoid depression, here and now, by expressing my anger in this blog.

I have anger about

• my country’s inability to ban assault weapons,
• the erosion of the truth in public discourse,
• systemic injustices towards marginalized people,
• passive aggressiveness and other gaslighting behaviors, and
• the intermittent, loud knocking in the walls when we use our new shower, which the plumber says can’t be fixed without tearing down walls.

Now that I’ve named those causes of my anger, I can think about what I can and can’t do to mitigate them (which helps me, at least).

Do you see anger in any of my images for today?

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I get angry when I see “Texas Loves the Children Day” and think about the children in Texas killed by gun violence, but I’m not angry about this description:

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Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “anger”:

I appreciate that talk about anger, especially this comparison of anger to a child: you don’t want to let it drive the car, but you also don’t want to stuff it in the trunk.

Thanks to those who help me accept and express anger and all my other feelings, including YOU!

Day 3730: Awkward moments

In an awkward moment last night, I asked this question on Twitter:

Just now, I had another awkward moment when I clicked on “1 Quote” to find the one tweet that had quoted mine and got this:

(Is it awkward that my punning mind looks at that bird and thinks, “Squackward!”?)

After I asked that question about awkward moments last night on Twitter, I had an awkward moment when I wished I had asked a different question, which was “How do you deal with awkward moments?” My answer to that question might be, “I recognize that we all have them, so what’s so bad about awkward moments anyway?”

Other awkward moments yesterday included getting a message on my laptop that said “your disk is almost full” and somebody farting (yes, I feel too awkward to reveal more details).

Do you see awkward moments in my blog post for today?

I’m having an awkward moment, right now, where that picture of Joan (with the newly installed shower seat, which will help me deal with awkward moments as I age) is reminding me of this:

Here’s what I find when I search for “awkward moments” on YouTube:

I’m grateful for all the moments I get to share with you, including the awkward moments.

Day 3715: Simplify

To simplify the point of today’s blog post, it helps to simplify.

I’m going to simplify the above list to this: embrace this precious day.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “simplify”:

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Thanks to all who help me simplify, including YOU!

Day 3704: Power moves

The Daily Bitch has got me thinking about power moves today.

Strangely enough, my power move is listening to what people say and letting them finish their thoughts. That’s why my Coping and Healing groups include a check-in where everyone says whatever they choose without interruption; I am often moved by how people use that power.

The news, as usual, is filled with power moves by world leaders and I wonder how these moves are going to affect the rest of us.

Do you see power moves in my other images for today?

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Here’s what I find when I search for “power moves” on YouTube:

Is it a power move for me to ask you to leave a comment, below?

One of my power moves is expressing gratitude, so thanks to all those who give me the power to create these daily blog posts, including YOU!

Day 3703: Only human

It’s only human to make mistakes and it’s only human to forgive ourselves when we do.

I’m the only human who is awake in my household right now and it’s only human for me to want to connect by sharing these images with you.

It’s only human that I might forget to share the Daily Holidays on Twitter every morning, but it’s only human to hope that I don’t forget to do that again.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “only human.”

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It’s only human that I’d like to hear from you about this “only human” blog post.

Thanks to all who are only human like me, including YOU!

Day 3699: Life is full of surprises.

Because life is full of surprises, I wasn’t surprised to see this sign yesterday:

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Do my other images for today show that life is full of surprises?

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Life is full of surprises and I’m sure that commuters at Boston’s South Station were surprised by this postal workers flash mob yesterday:

I’m surprised that video doesn’t include more footage of the postal workers singing and dancing to “Mr. Postman,” but life is full of surprises.

If you think life is full of surprises, feel free to surprise me with a comment, below.

Thanks to all who helped make this life-is-full-of-surprises blog post possible, including YOU!

Day 3697: Love

What love can you find in today’s blog post?

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I love my husband and, yes, we have domestic squabbles, like yesterday’s about the lighting in the new shower. I love that we can resolve our worst squabbles so quickly by realizing how ridiculous they are.

Here’s what I find when I search for “love” on YouTube:

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I love getting comments from you and I love that you read these posts!