Day 3193: One of those days

Yesterday, I had one of those days where everything seemed to go wrong, including

• lots of trouble locating my reserved parking space for my in-person Monday work at the medical center,
• temporarily losing my pager,
• arriving late despite leaving plenty of time to get there early,
• being continually and inexplicably locked out of using the computer at work, which I need for almost every aspect of my job as a psychotherapist,
• not receiving an important email that resulted in problems with one of the insurances I take,
• not being able to locate information needed to fill out a form to rectify the insurance problem,
• witnessing the pain of many people who were dealing with way more than just one of those days, and
• confronting all this with a minimal amount of sleep the night before.

When I was on the phone with a help desk person, who was baffled by why I kept getting locked out of using my computer, I told him I was having one of those days. I wondered if he was having one of those days too, but this was one of those conversations where only one of us was doing much talking.

Now I’m writing this wondering if I’m going to have one of those days again today. Here’s one of my thoughts about one of those days — they are much more bearable if there is only one of them.

So many people all over the world are having one of those days, over and over again.

Let’s see how many of my photos reflect one of those days.

Joan continues to have one of those days when she has to wear a cone.

My husband Michael was having one of those days when he was having trouble filleting the skate for this delicious meal. At one point, he stabbed it with his knife and said, “This is for Steve Irwin!”

This was a perfect teabag for me to get after having one of those days.

This was the only question I could think of asking on Twitter at the end of one of those days.

This is going to be one of those days that many people might enjoy celebrating.

The Daily Bitch is remembering one of those days in the long-ago past.

Here’s “One of Those Days” by one of the greats, Weird Al.

Consider leaving one of those comments about this one-of-those-days post, which would make my day.

Even when it’s one of those days, I’m grateful to get another day with people like YOU.

Day 3145: Headlines

Sometimes, in my Coping and Healing groups, I ask people this question: if there were a 24-hour cable news network devoted to reporting about you, what would the headlines be?

For ANN (Ann Network News), the top headline would be “New Cat Joan Spectacular Addition to Home.”

Of course, if my imaginary cable news network were a typical one, the headline might be “New cat infiltration causes chaos and conflict. Old cat asks ‘Why?’” That deceptive one is much more likely to increase viewership and sell more products.

Do you see headlines in my other images for today?

Another ANN headline might be “August 11 National Day: Ann asks ‘Why?’”

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

What would the headlines be for your personal 24-hour news network?

Here’s my final headline for today’s blog: “Ann Incredibly Grateful For Everything in Her Life, Including YOU.”

Day 2988: First smile of the day

Yesterday, somebody on Twitter told me I had given them their first smile of the day.

That reminds me of an article I recently read from the Atlantic by Arthur C. Brooks, about how giving smiles to other people is very good for our own mental health:

https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2021/03/making-people-happy-makes-you-happier-too/618190/

That article recommends that we act like happy people — even when we’re not happy — to make ourselves happy and to spread happiness. Arthur C. Brooks suggests asking ourselves this question when we’re down: “What would a happy person do?” In other words, to fake it until we make it.

So, if I give you your first smile of the day even when I don’t feel like smiling, that’s good for both of us.

If what I’ve written so far hasn’t evoked the first smile of the day, perhaps one of these images will.

Perhaps this video of The Pat Metheny Group performing “First Circle” (with dancing parrots) will give you the first smile of the day.

Or, maybe this Weird Al video will elicit a first smile of the day:

What gave you the first smile of the day? I’ll smile if you comment, below.

Thanks to all who give me smiles throughout the day, including YOU!