The possibilities ARE endless since I woke up today whining about many things, including a sore throat, the end-of-the-year blues, my weight, the state of the world, the upcoming USA administration, and not being able to find our new Menorah for Hanukkah AND the mouth guard I hate wearing because of my annoyingly clicking jaw.
Before I discovered it was National Whiners Day, I was ready to write a whiners post, in which I planned to discuss how we automatically focus on the negative as a way to highlight and solve problems.
Instead of whining more about that, here are my images for National Whiners Day!
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Here’s what I find when I search for “National Whiners Day.”
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Feel free to whine about that video or anything else in the comments, below.
Thanks to all who are here for this National Whiners Day post, including YOU!
As a psychotherapist, I often tell my patients that comparing ourselves to others leads to dissatisfaction. At the same time, comparing is a way we understand the world.
For example, our cat Harley is much more nervous than our cat Joan — a comparison that helps us be more effective when we bring them both to the vet.
Do you see comparing in today’s images?
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I am comparing myself to the Daily Bitch and I’m happy with the comparison.
Maybe it’s bragging to say that I’m good at finding things on the internet, including definitions of “bragging.”
It doesn’t surprise me that bragging is defined in a negative way. However, I think there’s something to be said for bragging, especially if you tend to squelch or disbelieve positive things about yourself.
Personally, I grew up in a family where saying anything positive about oneself — much less bragging — was discouraged. Whenever I said something that came close to bragging, I was told “don’t give a kanahari” because that would attract the evil eye.
As a result, I’ve always had some fear about promoting myself, naming my talents, owning my skills, and doing anything else that might attract the evil eye. This is so ingrained that last September, when I fearlessly shared one of my original songs with strangers and then had a mini-stroke the next day, this thought came into my head: “That’s what you get for bragging about yourself.”
Rationally, I know that’s not true. Also, I’ve witnessed the healing power of bragging when I’ve encouraged people in my therapy groups to say something positive about themselves. Last week, I said, “let’s hear some bragging” and witnessed people, who usually put themselves down, allowing themselves to acknowledge and own their positive attributes and accomplishments.
Let’s see if there’s any bragging in my images for today.
Is it bragging, on National Fun Day, to say that I’m really fun? Is it also bragging to say that I made many great decisions about our shower remodel, that I’m an excellent group therapist, or that I write good songs?
Here’s hoping something terrible doesn’t happen to me because of all that bragging.
Here’s the song I was bragging about in September:
Let’s see some bragging in those comments, below!
Is it bragging to say that I have the best readers for my blog, including you?
Last night, right after midnight, when I thought I would be extending my Wordle streak, I found out that I had broken it.
In other words, I thought I had played Wordle yesterday, but I hadn’t. If I had opened up the New York Times app a few minutes before I did, I wouldn’t have broken my streak.
That sent me on streaks of negative thoughts and feelings, surprising in their intensity. I thought about my unbroken and long streaks in daily blogging and tweeting over the years, despite some very challenging and overwhelming days. I felt streaks of regret, disappointment, and self judgment about that unconsciously broken Wordle streak, caused by simple forgetfulness (or perhaps disorientation because of the time change).
Because I wanted to maintain my current short streak of good night’s sleeps, I tried to let go of those streaks of negative thoughts and feelings by searching online for “streaks Wordle.” First I found this …
… which isn’t totally accurate, because you can break your streak simply by not playing the game for one day.
Then, I found an article about people deliberately breaking their Wordle streaks in support of striking New York Times employees, which had this headline:
And the last line of that article helped me maintain my streak of non-sleepless nights.
Now, I need to embrace the chaos of the unknown and maintain my ten-year streak of blogging by sharing these images with you.
It looks like the Daily Bitch has broken a streak, too.
I pointed out in a group yesterday that that women were interrupted way more often than men,
I have many wonderful women friends, including my life-long friend Barbara, whose birthday is today,
I know that women often have trouble accepting their own anger and their own awesomeness,
I’m very good at word games, and
as usual, I’m sharing the Daily Bitch Calendar and other images with you today.
I am woman and I’m glad I’m writing this post on Girls Write Now Day, International (Working) Women’s Day, National Be Nasty Day, and UN Day for Women’s Rights & International Peace.
Here’s what I find when I search for “I am Woman” on YouTube:
I’ve also been hearing this in my head as I’ve been creating this I-am-woman post:
I am woman and I am grateful to all the human beings who help me write this daily blog, including YOU!
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!
