National CanDo Day Archives - The Year(s) of Living Non-Judgmentally

When we’re feeling discouraged and powerless, it helps to focus on what we can do (instead of what we can’t do).

Because yesterday was National CanDo Day, I could ask this question on Twitter:

I can say that it always helps me to connect to others and get different perspectives.

I can take pictures of Joan, right now, and share them with you.

Also, even though I’m still having problems with congestion and with my phone, I can share today’s observances …

… and search for “what we can do” on YouTube.

What we can do is try to understand ourselves and others, as Sally Kohn is doing in her great TED talk What we can do about the culture of hate.

What we can do is express gratitude for the important people in our lives, including YOU.

For want of a nail is an ancient proverb illustrating how one small loss can result in disaster.

For Want of a Nail
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.

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Sometimes I notice that my life/daily routine is hanging too precariously on one small item and that it’s only a matter of time when so much more will be lost.

Right now, it’s my iPhone, which powers SO MUCH in my life — including my blogging, taking photos, and (most importantly) my ability to log into work from home. It’s been very obvious to me for a while that I NEED MY PHONE to log into work. There’s just no way around it. And today, my iPhone charging slot isn’t working. For want of an iPhone charging slot, my kingdom seems lost.

That’s probably catastrophizing but I am so used to my phone that being without it, right now, seems terrifying. I’ve blogged before how this sense of danger is magnified for me because I’ve been dependent on devices (specifically, cardiac pacemakers) in order to stay alive since I was 10 years old. However, I assume that I’m not the only one who would panic about the want of a phone.

Right now, I’m blogging on my laptop and everything is different and difficult to do. For example, no matter what I do, I can’t get rid of this weird formatting. Also, I don’t even know if I can add an image to this post.

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Yay!

I didn’t do a screen capture on my phone before it died, so let’s see if I can figure out how to add a screen capture here without my phone.

Okay! I think I figured out to do it, let’s see …

Okay! That took much longer than on my phone, but I did figure it out.

In the meantime, I have ordered a charger that doesn’t depend on the charging slot in my phone and I have reasons to believe that will work. And, if the charging slot IS dead, I can finally upgrade my iPhone 8 to a newer version.

So all is not lost. It just felt like it was, for a little while.

Here’s another variation of that proverb that’s been running through my head: For want of a vacation when I was healthy, my sanity was lost. That’s probably not true, but my answer to my own question of “What’s something we can all agree on?” was this:

(Now I have to remember how to do that damn screen capture again. Hold on …)