It's amazing how easily we are fooled
Oct. 23rd, 2016 09:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
drwex(and no I'm not talking about politics. The random statistic seen this week that 48% of Republican-leaning voters don't trust the election result leaves me sputtering. Like the woman who called into the NPR radio show of all things complaining about "why do we still have the electoral college?" I'm certain she thinks of herself as a vigorous defender of the US Constitution.)
No, I'm talking about my brain. Many of us use the idea "good mood by force of will" and a lot has been said by people way smarter than I about the effect of attitude on bodily and mental health. Of late I've been using a particular trick for my own mood and it's kind of working, so here it is:
When people ask how I'm doing, I say:
Saying I'm mostly OK is true. It helps me keep from focusing on the things that are negative; on balance there are also a lot of positive things. The key is that I'm no longer lamenting all the things I have to do. I still have all those things, but I also have lots of things I do instead of those things. Books I read, games I play, movies I watch. Even if I did nothing but those (where's that winning powerball ticket?) I'd still have more things I wanted to do than time to do them.
It seems such a trivial trick to turn a simple phrase and yet it's having a significant effect on my better-mood-by-force-of-something.
No, I'm talking about my brain. Many of us use the idea "good mood by force of will" and a lot has been said by people way smarter than I about the effect of attitude on bodily and mental health. Of late I've been using a particular trick for my own mood and it's kind of working, so here it is:
When people ask how I'm doing, I say:
"Mostly OK. I have more things I want to do than I have time to do them."
Saying I'm mostly OK is true. It helps me keep from focusing on the things that are negative; on balance there are also a lot of positive things. The key is that I'm no longer lamenting all the things I have to do. I still have all those things, but I also have lots of things I do instead of those things. Books I read, games I play, movies I watch. Even if I did nothing but those (where's that winning powerball ticket?) I'd still have more things I wanted to do than time to do them.
It seems such a trivial trick to turn a simple phrase and yet it's having a significant effect on my better-mood-by-force-of-something.
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no subject
Date: 2016-10-24 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-24 11:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-10-24 12:06 pm (UTC)I think quite a few people could say this. I know I could, there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day for me some days. I don't know how people with full time jobs get as much done as they do sometimes.
And yeah, It's all in the attitude you take, I believe it.
no subject
Date: 2016-10-24 04:29 pm (UTC)Growing up, I was taught that the only right answer to "How are you?" is "I'm fine, thank you" because the question is social noise and people don't really want to know. I've been looking for alternatives that are more honest but still polite. I tend to use "I will be fine" when I'm really not doing well.
no subject
Date: 2016-10-24 05:48 pm (UTC)