Mental health – Page 2

Laughter is the Best Medicine

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Experts say “that laughter might raise the pain threshold and improve glucose tolerance, have positive effects on the immune system, and lower blood pressure.” Furthermore, “it enhances your intake of oxygen-rich air, stimulates your heart, lungs and muscles, and increases the endorphins that are released by your brain.”

However, humor can’t cure all ailments but according to the mayoclinic.org, it has the ability to stimulate many organs, it helps to activate and relieve your stress response and it can soothe tension. These are just some short-term effects. The long-term effects can improve your immune system, help to relieve pain by releasing natural pain killers, increase personal satisfaction and improve the mood.

A daily dose of laughter can do wonders it seems. So here are a few jokes to get you started.

Police Inspector: Why didn’t you report your stolen credit card?

Husband: The thief was spending less than my wife.

Police Inspector: Then why are you reporting it now?

Husband: I think now the thief’s wife has started using it.

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Two men were talking about their wives. The first man says, “My wife is an angel..” The second man says, “You’re lucky! Mine’s still alive.”

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You know you’re getting old when your wife says, “Honey, let’s run upstairs and make love,” and your answer, “I can’t do both.”

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Doctor: “Do you do dangerous sports?”

Patient: “Well, sometimes I talk back to my wife.”

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When a wife says, “Do what you want” – seriously dude, don’t do what you want. Instead, stand still and do not even blink.”

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And now for all the single men out there.

Dear Grooms, once you get married, remember that when you discuss with your wife, always get the last two words right. ”Yes, dear.”

Feel better? I know I am feeling much better.

Have an amazing day.

The Zoomies

What is that?!! Well, I found out the hard way. Chachi, the cat, decided that it was time to let his “Zoomies,” out and not in a nice way! Last night was a horror trip.

It started out as usual with me getting ready for bed and Little Einstein doing his bit as well. He was into cleaning himself but in an aggressive manner as he let out some snorts as he went about his business. I guess he was frustrated. Who wouldn’t be? That little tongue of his does a mighty big job and last night was no different. When he finished, he eyed me with a look on his face that I hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t “love unconditional” but something else and soon the horror trip would begin.

It started out with slight bunny hops across the bed. Not too bad. I thought, whatever floats your boat. Then he ran across the bed with a loud meow. I asked, “What is wrong with you? Settle down!” Nope, it wasn’t working. He decided to take it a notch higher. He ran around the room, over and over again. Oh God, I was in for it. A few minutes later, he jumped back on the bed but this time he wanted to get my full attention. He ran across from one end of the bed to the other and as if that wasn’t enough, he JUMPED over my head! Not once, not twice but over and over again! Jumping out of bed, I tried to get him but the Little Snort was a lot quicker and he dashed under the bed and stayed there meowing his you know what off! I was at a loss for words so I GOOGLED. Yes, my go to bible for everything that is wrong with this world. Mine, I mean.

I found out that cats get the Zoomies now and then. Another word for it is (FRAPs) or rather Frenetic Random Activity Periods. It is primarily done “to release pent-up energy from long periods of rest, satisfying their instincts as crepuscular (dawn/dusk) ambush predators by mimicking hunting sprints, and sometimes due to excitement or even post-poop stimulation, providing a natural, healthy burst of cardiovascular exercise and endorphins.”

Lord have mercy! I knew I was in for a sleepless night amongst other things. The article further went on to say that “Zoomies mimic the chase, pounce, and sprint of hunting, tapping into their core predatory nature, even if they’re just chasing a dust bunny.” I guess I was the dust bunny!

How to Manage Zoomies

Schedule playtime. Help them to burn up some pent-up energy. Provide scratching posts and toys to keep them busy. Be consistent. More stimulation during the day leads to less frantic behavior at night.

Hmm…the little rascal gets enough stimulation BUT he prefers to sleep during the day, goes to bed at 7 in the evening and is up before the sun comes up! His toy box sees a lot of activity during the night and the stuffed birds cower in fear when he gets a hold of them and rightfully so!

Last night was something to remember. I had never seen him that way before but this little furball has lots up his furry arm that I’m not aware of. It was a rude awakening BUT I’ll take it in stride as I do with all the other stuff that he puts me through. Yes, he has got me wrapped around his paws and that is not going to change any time soon. AND he knows it!

Have an amazing day.

LOL!

I thought this was hilarious!

Hello, police? Please hurry – send someone immediately! There’s a cat in my house!”

“I’m sorry, sir… did you say a cat?”

“Yes, a CAT! For heaven’s sake! Don’t you know what a cat is? It walked in and now it’s coming straight toward me!”

“Sir, I don’t quite understand. Are you sure you don’t mean an intruder? A burglar, perhaps?”

“Nooo! An actual cat! You know—meow! With fur! Are we on the same planet?!”

“Sir, even if the cat is approaching you, I’m not sure why this is a police matter.”

“Because it’s trying to kill me! And when I’m dead, this call will be Exhibit A!”

“A cat… is trying to kill you. Sir, may I ask who I’m speaking to?”

“This is Loreto.”

“Last name?”

“…the Parrot.”

🤣🤣🤣

Time

“Time and tide waits for no man.” Geoffrey Chaucer

I was discussing time with a friend and told him jokingly that this year I am going to hold on tight and make time go as slowly as possible. He laughed because he knew as well as I did that holding onto time is an impossible task and the truth is it flies and trying to keep up is the only thing to do.

Zig Ziglar said, “Lack of direction not lack of time is the problem. We all have 24-hour days.”

True but sometimes it seems that the days fly by and just when you think it is the beginning of the week, lo and behold, it’s the weekend again. When we look back, it is clear that we waste a lot of time on things that don’t matter, on people we shouldn’t be wasting our time on and perhaps just sitting around and wishing and hoping that things were different. I’ve started a routine to make the days count because lost time is just that. You are not getting it back ever again. I’ve started writing down everything I do during the course of the day. There are no hard and fast rules so I give myself permission to write down my thoughts and feelings as well as improvement ideas. Surprisingly, I’ve been keeping up and getting a lot accomplished and some days I pat myself on the back and say, “Great job, you’re giving time a run for the money! Keep it up.” It really has slowed time down for me. Try this approach, you might just like it.

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” Michael Altshuler

This year I want to take the time to smell the roses which means taking more time for myself mentally and physically. I want to do things that will bring an improvement to and will enrich my life. I am not going to let a day go by without doing something productive. That said, I am going to find the time to relax, not going to sweat the small stuff and let time keep up with me instead of the other way around! Doable? Anything is doable if you put your mind to it.

“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” J.R.R. Tolkien

Have an amazing day.

Loose Lips Sink Ships

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Update: I wrote this during Trump’s first term and nothing has changed it seems. If anything, he is shooting off “bullets” before his mind can catch up with him! The bully is front and center and he is using the office of the presidency to back him up. Talks of taking Greenland by force, talking down to the allies and single-handedly dismantling the “Old World Order” is all within his grasp and he is leaving nothing to chance. This is what I had to say back then.

The 45th President is in hot water again and this just days after the controversial firing of FBI Director, James Comey. The president alleged that the firing was due to Comey “not doing a good job,” and instead of leaving it at that, he went on to tweet a thinly veiled threat suggesting that there was a taped recording of his conversation with Comey further adding, “James Comey better hope that there are no ‘tapes’ of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press.” That threw him into the eye of the hurricane where he has been ever since.

As if that wasn’t enough to throw his presidency into a downward spiral, the president was off and running to his next debacle. This one involves allegations that he divulged classified information to Russian diplomats in the Oval Office. The Washington Post reported that Trump revealed highly classified information on the Islamic State group during his meeting with Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador, Sergey Kialyak. Yes folks, ignorance is bliss and where the new President is concerned, it’s enough to “sink ships,” or his Presidency.

The latest morsel of “red meat” was just what the press needed to send them scrambling to get the best angle on the developing story as dreams of “impeachment” riddled through the minds of die-hard Trump haters. Not so fast people. There is such a thing as damage control and the White House has been doing just that sending in the “big guns” to take care of business. If Spicer’s “stare down the press” tactics hasn’t worked, well, maybe sending in National Security Advisor HR McMaster might just do the job. In his no-nonsense fashion, he denied that the President had revealed, “Intelligence sources or methods,” but reviewed, “a range of common threats to our two countries including threats to civil aviation.” Was that enough to calm the “storm” and bring it to a screeching halt? Guess again.

Trump’s questionable tweets and actions have put his Presidency in turmoil once again and not even all the President’s men and women can put it back together again. This latest drama is one of his own making and if he doesn’t stop shooting off tweets from the White House during the early morning hours instead of getting some sleep, this situation is only going to get worse. Perhaps, he should take a tip from the 44th President, Barack Obama, when the going gets tough, go golfing. There is no better way to let off some steam than by shooting a small ball into a round hole at the same time cussing under your breath about all the wrongs of the world that needs righting. A surefire way to keep the lid on an explosive situation and you come off looking like a winner.

One last thing, the office of the President deserves a modicum of decorum and spouting off “secrets” at the drop of a coin and shooting off tweets like a teenager is not the way to get it.

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Anxiety

Anxiety is defined as, “a natural response to pressure, feeling afraid or threatened, which can show up in how we feel physically, mentally, and in how we behave. It’s common to describe anxiety as a feeling of dread, fear or unease, which can range from mild to severe.”

It can also be a normal reaction to stress and it walks in and stays for awhile sometimes making your daily existence a living hell. It can overwhelm at times but the mild variety doesn’t stay for too long. Occasional anxiety is normal and it dissolves when whatever got you “hyped up” dissipates.

“Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.” Khalil Gibran

Sound familiar? Something is not working right and there we go. Sweating, breathing hard and to make matters worse, we stay fixated on the problem wanting to control the outcome. I’ve been having such episodes lately. I love fixing things and sometimes even before they happen! When it doesn’t go as planned, my thoughts get erratic, I experience restlessness, and irritability. I’ve been looking at ways to not let “anxiety” get the better of me. One method is to focus your thoughts on things that bring “good vibes” into your being. The other is to exercise for all you’re worth or to just get out in nature, breathe and let go. If that doesn’t work, here’s something that might just do the trick.

Mantra for anxiety:

“Anxiety isn’t you. It’s something moving through you. It can leave out of the same door it came in.” James Clear

AND

“Trust yourself. You’ve survived a lot, and you’ll survive whatever is coming.” Robert Tew

I like what Dr. Lucy Russell has to say about this topic.

“We have anxious thoughts because the brain is trying to keep us alive. To the brain, survival is much more important than happiness. So, the brain often conjures up worst case scenarios and “what ifs”, so that we can prepare for disaster. The trouble is, the brain regularly gets it wrong.”

All that preparation for nothing? Well, sometimes it is and at other times, it is needed to wade through the murky waters of anxiety.

How do you lessen anxiety naturally?

You can practice mindfulness, try different breathing techniques to calm the nervous system, practice daily meditation and use guided imagery to lessen the stress and to get clarity on the problem at hand.

If that fails, try the following.

“Breathe. You’re going to be okay. You’ve gotten through so many things in your life. YOU’VE GOT THIS.” Karen Salmansohn

Have an amazing day.

LOL!

The king wanted to go fishing, and he asked the royal weather forecaster the forecast for the next few hours. The palace meteorologist assured him that there was no chance of rain.

So the king and the queen went fishing. On the way he met a man with a fishing pole riding on a donkey, and he asked the man if the fish were biting.

The fisherman said, “Your Majesty, you should return to the palace! In just a short time I expect a huge rainstorm.”

The king replied: “I hold the palace meteorologist in high regard. He is an educated and experienced professional. Besides, I pay him very high wages. He gave me a very different forecast. I trust him.”

So the king continued on his way. However, in a short time a torrential rain fell from the sky The King and Queen were totally soaked.

Furious, the king returned to the palace and gave the order to fire the meteorologist. Then he summoned the fisherman and offered him the prestigious position of royal forecaster.

The fisherman said, “Your Majesty, I do not know anything about forecasting. I obtain my information from my donkey. If I see my donkey’s ears drooping, it means with certainty that it will rain.”

So the king hired the donkey.

And thus began the practice of hiring dumb asses to work in influential positions of government.

The practice is unbroken to this date.

Need I say more? 🤣🤣🤣

LOL!

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A farmer stopped by a local mechanic shop…..

… to have his truck fixed.They thought it might have something to do with the transmission, so they couldn’t repair it while he waited.

He told the mechanics that he didn’t live far and would just walk home.On the way home, he stopped at a hardware store and bought a bucket and a gallon of paint. He then stopped by the feed store and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose.

However, struggling outside the store, he now had a problem.How to carry his purchases home.Whilst he was scratching his head, he was approached by a little old lady who told him she was lost.She asked, “can you tell me how to get to 1603 Mockingbird Lane?” The farmer said, ‘well, as a matter of fact, my farm is very close to this house. I would walk you there, but I can’t carry this lot.” The old lady suggested, “why don’t you do this? Put the can of paint in the bucket, carry the bucket in one hand, put a chicken under each arm and carry the goose in the other hand.”

“Well, thank you very much.That works just fine,” he said, and proceeded to walk the old girl home.

On the way, he said, “let’s take my usual shortcut and go down this alley.We’ll be there in no time.” The little old lady looked him over cautiously and said, “I’m a lonely widow without a husband to defend me.How do I know that when we get in the alleyway, you won’t have your wicked way with me?”

The farmer said with some irritation, “holy smokes, lady, I’m carrying a bucket, a gallon of paint, two chickens and a goose. How in the world would I do that?”

The old lady said, “well, set the goose down, cover him with a bucket, put a can of paint on top of the bucket and I’ll hold the bloody chickens.”

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Day 4 of 365!

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We’re into Day 4 and I can’t help but ask, didn’t we just get started? Anyway, the wind is howling like a banshee outside and snow is in the forecast again. No walk today so I’m getting my writing in. Lots of coffee is also on the agenda.

I’m planning what this year is going to look like for me. No, I don’t know for sure but I have control over a few ideas. Trying to get a second children’s book out is on the table but I’m not sure yet. I have been collaborating with a publisher, a different one from the last one I used. I’m not happy with them and someone else is willing to work with me. The problem is, I don’t know if I want to go through the stress again. It involves a lot of things and I wanted this year to be quieter. Like nothing much to do at all!

If I give the go ahead, it will mean many things. Working with illustrators, proofreading, book layout, audio version which involves picking out the right voice and so on. Hmm….sounds interesting but I haven’t made up my mind yet.

Working on me is an ongoing project. I made headway last year and saw major improvements to the point that I was called “complicated,” and “arrogant!” Oh well, so be it. I know what I want and I won’t settle for anything less so call me whatever. I learned that I’m a pushover, too nice, too accommodating, willing to bend over backwards to please people and so on. This year, I’m changing some of those negative traits. I want to be stronger, I will stand my ground and will walk away if something is not contributing to my well-being. It will take courage and focus to do that but I come armed and ready to do battle! Well, maybe not battle, just to be steadfast in what I want.

Health is on the agenda as well. This year I’m upping the workouts, looking for more ways to stay healthy, and working on showing the “stress monster” the door is also on the list of things to do. I’m not going to let little things rattle me and I’m going to breathe and let go as much as possible of things that don’t matter. Let’s see if this will work out. I have good intentions and that matters.

Yes, the new year is trying to take off in leaps and bounds, as it usually does.

“Make hay while the sun shines.”

I plan to do exactly that.

Have an amazing day.

A Gorgeous Day!

They’ve been talking about snow and freezing rain for the last couple of days and it never arrived. This morning, however, I noticed that Chachi, the cat was mesmerized as he stood by the window and kept looking back at me.

ME: “TV not working again Chachi?”

HIM: “You’ve got to see this mommy! It is BEAUTIFUL!”

It was. Snow had arrived in the middle of the night and it was a white world out there. The roofs were covered in white and so were the streets. I knew that I needed to bundle up and go out there to salt the sidewalk so that no one will slip and fall. It is tedious work but it’s a must over here and it is expected that you do what is necessary to keep the street safe and clear of any hazards.

After breakfast, I put on my boots, my thick jacket, and headed out with a big bowl filled with salt. The ground beneath felt crunchy and that signaled “ice” mixed with snow. It was dangerous because it is easy to slip and to take a fall. I did my duty and made sure my portion of the sidewalk was nice, clean, and salted.

Then it was time to do my morning walk. The sun was up and about and it looked like it was going to be gorgeous day albeit a little cold because the wind was picking up speed and playing havoc with the trees. I decided that I needed out in the open to clear my mind.

The fields were covered in white and the trees were frosted like straight out of a picture postcard! It was a beautiful sight. Still, it was colder than I expected. Not a single thing, neither man nor beast, was moving out there. I took my usual route watching as I stepped because the rock covered pathway was slippery. Some parts had puddles of water frozen in place and others covered in a mixture of snow and ice.

I gave my mind free rein and watched as it took off, leaving me to walk quietly and deep in thought. I usually think a lot about different things while walking hoping that the open spaces and nature will do its thing and give me some answers. Today, it was no different. I got some solutions and one of them was to break the problems down into smaller and more manageable portions. Solve one problem at a time. I’ve been running with all of them, facing me in all directions until it became overwhelming and hard to manage.

MESSAGE TO SELF: Work on solving things, one problem at a time.

Good. I plan to do just that. The walk was fantastic and the view gorgeous! I came back with a freezing nose but it was exhilarating. I love winter days. Time for a cup of hot coffee and to get moving on with the day.

Have an amazing day.