Day 2047: A thought is just a thought

Yesterday, in a therapy group where many thoughts were expressed …

… I said, “A thought is just a thought.”  One of the group members thought that thought was important, so I wrote it up on the board:

The group members thought that was helpful, because the thoughts people expressed in the group included fortune telling, catastrophizing, mind reading, personalization, all-or-nothing thinking, over-generalizing, jumping to conclusions, labelling, shoulds, and other cognitive distortions.  For example, my expressed thoughts included, “The plane might crash on Saturday!”

As I’m writing this blog post, my thoughts include this one: “My shoulder, after my fall in January,  will never be right.”

We all have lots of thoughts. Thoughts are NOT the same as actions or accurate forecasts of the future. I’ve thought, many times, to challenge a thought with this question, “Is that a helpful thought?”

A thought is just a thought and a photo is just a photo.

 

A thought is just a thought, a barrier is just a barrier, a verb is just a verb,  a memory is just a memory,  and a theme song is just a theme song.

Feel free to express your just thoughts in a comment, below.

Gratitude is just gratitude, so thanks to all whose thoughts helped me create today’s post and — of course! — to thoughtful YOU.

 

Day 1919: Bright Ideas

Since I’m having trouble finding bright ideas in the news or on social media these days, I was glad to see this in a store yesterday.

That bright photo shows a notebook for writing down one’s own bright ideas. I’m now having the bright idea that bright ideas often come from within. My next bright idea is this: maybe we should rely less on other people’s bright ideas, especially if the people pushing those ideas don’t seem particularly bright.

Do you see any bright ideas in my other photos from yesterday?

I’m now having the bright idea that I’ll be revisiting the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August. While I’ve had that bright idea several times before, some bright ideas are worth repeating.

I just had the bright idea to look for “Bright Ideas” on YouTube.

I look forward to seeing many bright ideas in the comments section, below.

Bright thanks to all who help me share bright ideas in this daily blog and — of course! — to you, for having the bright idea of reading it.

Day 1713: Like a pro

Like a pro, I noticed this sign yesterday:

I see pros and cons in that, based on my previous profession as a copywriter.  These days, my profession involves asking questions, including these: Is it possible to go back to school like a pro?  If you are in school, aren’t you NOT a professional?

Back to defining terms, like a pro:

pro
prō
noun informal
1. a professional, especially in sports.
“a tennis pro”
adjective
1. (of a person or an event) professional.
“a pro golfer”

pro·fes·sion·al
prəˈfeSH(ə)n(ə)l
adjective
1. relating to or connected with a profession.
“young professional people”
synonyms: white-collar, nonmanual
“people in professional occupations”
2. (of a person) engaged in a specified activity as one’s main paid occupation rather than as a pastime.
“a professional boxer”
synonyms: paid, salaried
“a professional rugby player”
noun
1. a person engaged or qualified in a profession.
“professionals such as lawyers and surveyors”
synonyms: white-collar worker, office worker
“affluent young professionals”

I rest my case, like a pro (even though I’m not a professional lawyer).

What does “like a pro” mean to you?  As you look around, who is acting like a pro?  Who needs to go back to school so they can act like a pro?

Any pros in my other photos today?

Here‘s “Like a Pro” by The Wizard, with people dancing like pros.

Thanks to all the pros and amateurs who contributed to today’s post and thanks to you — of course! — for reading like a pro.