What do you do when everything seems to be going wrong?
Have you ever had one of those days when nothin’ goes right?
— Paul Thorn
Every once in a while – thank GOD not every day – I have one of those days when every little thing goes wrong: I fall back to sleep after I turn off the alarm, the coffeemaker doesn’t automatically brew, my hair’s a mess, my clothes don’t feel good, the outfit I’d like to wear isn’t clean, I can’t find the keys – and that’s just the start of my day!
When that happens, I feel a little like the scene in Romancing the Stone (It was “our” favorite, laughing out loud movie.) when the heroine slides down a wet slippery slope into the yucky mucky mud… I just want to wallow in a private PITY party for a while… but the day demands that I go on, NOW!
How ’bout you, been there, done that? If so, how’d you get on with your day? How did you turn Continue reading » Bad Hair Day, You Say?

Well, the big trip is over. I have gone to visit my father and nothing is changing. Not that Dad hasn’t changed, he has. Just that not enough has changed in the underlying situation to allow us to make any decisions about the best way to proceed.
For as long as I’ve known him, Dad has had a temper. His response to unexpected circumstances was to rage. If you happened to be close by, you became the target. He was never physically violent that I am aware of, but then he is a little guy – under five feet, wirey and muscular but at a distinct disadvantage when it came to taking on most of the world.
Continue reading » Still Living With Uncertainty

How do you work with difficult people?
This last weekend I traveled out of town to attend an investing class. A friend of mine drove down from where she lives about 3.5 hours away and we shared a hotel room the night before the class. This is the second time that we’ve traveled together.
Both times, we were pleasantly surprised how well we traveled together. Each of us is single and enjoys living alone with our dogs. She is an early morning person — wakes up naturally at 6:00, or o’dark thirty, as I like to call it. I’m an early morning person too, but my early morning is when I go to bed. I’m up until midnight or 1:00 most nights.
Continue reading » The Power of Getting Along

Nah, not that stationary bicycle “Spinning” idiocy – more power to any of you that enjoy it – my body just says “you want me to WHAT???”
I’m talkin’ ’bout a different kind of spinning. In my continuing quest for ways to deal with unexpected and unwelcome aggravations, I offer you spinning – do this after you’ve gone ballistic and snapped out of it – but before you actually leap into action. That’s the time to do a mental walk-around-the-problem looking for new perspectives on the way things are. Yes, pull out your rose colored glasses. Like sunglasses, they have their uses. And aggravation overload is one of those times when rose colored glasses can protect your spirit from the gloomie-rays.

In my office bookcase I treasure a small, petit point pillow featuring the whimsy of clever, self-taught author & artist, Mary Engelbreit. I keep it there, in my line of sight, to help me get through those AAAARRRRGGGHHHH moments. You know, when you get the blue screen of death on your ’puter, or the phone rings for the umpteenth time and you feel like singsong-answering, “grand central station, how can I help you?”
Continue reading » Snap Out of It!

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