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Tony’s Tip No.9 — Do One Thing
When you feel overwhelmed…do ONE thing!
It is easy to set goals.
It is easy to picture where you want to be in six months or a year.
Saying “I am going to get fit and healthy” is a simple easy thing to do.
ACTUALLY getting there is NOT!
So, when you feel overwhelmed; when the number on the scale seems stuck; when you’re down, blue, not motivated and everything seems impossible…
Do ONE Thing…
Just one. One POSITIVE thing.
It doesn’t matter what “thing” you do. Bend over a pick up a sock and put it in the hamper.
Look at that unmade bed and straighten out the pillows. Or pull the comforter or bedspread out flat to cover the mess.
Wash your face.
Empty the wastebasket in your office, bedroom, or bathroom.
Feed the kitty a few treats. (And no, you can’t have any of the treats!)
Because when you do ONE Thing…
Doing the SECOND thing is easier…
I am not a neat person.
After 53 years of life, I accept that, even though I actually a “place for everything” — “everything” will NEVER be in its place.
At least not all at the same time.
My life is filled with clutter. My outward living space often reflects my inner thoughts where I bound from one thing to another to another to another, leaving a trail of creative chaos in my wake.
Some would argue that the chaos is not so creative; don’t listen to them.
Few would deny, however, that it is entertaining!
Squirrel!
Therefore, my “One Thing” often is something to do with cleaning…
Given that my home is usually a mess, for me, the “one thing” is usually a bit of neatening or straightening or cleaning.
Everyone is different. Your “one thing” might be putting on a piece of music. Or entering ONE check into your check register. Or it might be filling up your 7-day pill organizer with this week’s medications.
Or…taking the dog for a walk.
Or…mailing a birthday card to a loved one.
Or…adding an item to the “shopping list” on the refrigerator door. Or…
It doesn’t really matter WHAT you do as long as you do SOMETHING!
It has got to be a “positive” thing. Take a step. Any Step. It is that first step that is the most important one. And it does NOT have to be a big step.
Step #1 is always the hardest, so make it a teeeeeeennnny tiny thing! Make sure that you can succeed when you take that tiny step. Do that tiny “one thing.”
Do something that you KNOW you can do….because who knows, when taking a step, just where any step might lead?
One thing I can promise you is that doing that one thing, WILL lead to doing another, which will lead to another. IF…
…after you pick up that sock and toss it in the dirty clothes hamper, you do a mini-celebration. After all you DESERVE IT!
You just girded your loins! You mustered your gumption! You fought against the feeling of battling an overwhelming MOUNTAIN of things yet to be done and you STARTED! You took a step FORWARD! You just did SOMETHING good!
Woo Hoo! Yay! YeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeHAW!
You, my friend, my dearest readers, DESERVE to celebrate! Because…
Depression and other “negative”
feelings are no laughing matter…
When I am feeling “depressed” it usually manifests in one of two ways:
- A feeling of futility or hopelessness
..
OR less frequently as:
.. - Anger. — Which according to the articles I’ve read is VERY typical for men battling depression.For some reason that scientists can’t quite figure out yet, men suffering from depression often are more on edge, stressed, likely to explode over minor things.
Do a quick Google Search on “Depression in Men.” The information is easy to find.
Doing SOMETHING positive for myself…
…no matter how small. How “tiny” in the grand scheme of things. Makes me feel better.
There is actual real science behind this simple idea. Google “Feedback Loops” — they can be either negative or positive.
By doing one “good / positive” thing you are halting a negative feedback loop and turning it into a positive feedback loop!
And that’s the key. With that teeeeeeeeeeny tiny step. With one SMALL action. You are breaking a negative cycle.
Ooooooooooooohhhhhhh!!! AAaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!
Yes, dearest readers, from your sounds of approval, I see that you are now amazed at my clever insights. 😉
Seriously, it really is that simple. Not easy, no, but simple!
HOWEVER… you have to do the “celebration” part
Make a game of it.
And if you get silly and start laughing at yourself or if your kids or grand kids are present, then don’t worry they will start laughing right along with you! And you’ll be firmly on that positive feedback loop, putting negativity behind you.
Picture this:
Me. Gloomy. Not motivated. Overwhelmed. Hopeless. Feeling like that it is all pointless. Why even bother? Who cares if I’ve lost over 40 lbs! I still have over a 100 lbs to go! It is impossible. I’ve set my sights too high. I’ll never get there. sigh
There are too many hurdles. It is hopeless. Then, bored, I scroll through Facebook, looking at all my friends living wonderful lives filled with fun, love, and skinny-ness. SIGH
HUGE heavy friggin’ SIGH….
Then.
[ insert the theme music from Jaws — dum dum dum dum dum DUM DUM DUM DUM! ]
There. On the floor. I spot my enemy! A foul sock! Out of place! Dirty. Used. And offending my latent OCD!
I leap out of my chair!
[ Ok, ok, I painfully push myself up out of my chair with a groan. ]
I spear the sock with my steely gaze and speak “Ah foul sock, enemy of tidiness and cleanliness and all things that my Mom said I should do…
Your. Days. Are. Numbered!!!!”
And I imagine a tiny fearful squeaky sock voice whimpering and quivering in abject fear of my rightful wrath!
And I bend over and carefully pick the sock up while dramatically holding my nose with one hand and pinching the smallest amount of sock between two fingers of the other hand.
I turn my head away in a dramatic swoop of the neck worthy of an Oscar and in my best Diva Voice say “I have you now!”
And off to the bathroom we go. [Where we studiously ignore the mess in the bathroom] and deposit the foul beast into captivity with its brethren in the dirty clothes hamper.
Notice we are using the Royal “We!”? snort giggle ROFL @ myself This is FUN!
Now we celebrate…
We start doing that circle in the air thing with our fists as we dance back to the bedroom chanting “Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Uh-huh!”
Then with a couple of fist pumps we chant
“We did it! We picked up a sock!
We did it! WHOSE da man?!? WhoseYerDaddy!?!”
Then I collapse in a fit of giggles back into the desk chair in the bedroom.
And TAH DAH! I feel better…
Even if you drop all the dramatics. The simple act of doing one “positive” or “good for you” or “improving yourself or your environment” thing can trigger a cascade of more positive things.
And, in complete seriousness, when you are down in the dumps, fighting against that awful feeling of hopelessness…
…sometimes picking up a single sock and putting it away is a monumental achievement.
It deserves to be celebrated.
So…do…one…thing. And celebrate. You can do this!
See ya on the dance floor!
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Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #3: My experience with Niacin
Third post in a series…
This is the third in a series where I go through all the drugs and vitamin supplements that my doctor has instructed me to take and I provide you with a list of links / readings / background information.
For the full backstory and the 411 on Invokana and the ACA, check out the first post:
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #1: Introduction, Invokana and the ACA
For the second post spotlighting Janumet, check out:
Sharing Diabetes and Supplement Information #2: Janumet
I am a fairly new diabetic. I was diagnosed in June 2015, approximately 6 months ago. My doctor immediately put me on two diabetic drugs. This was in addition to the drugs I was taking to control my high blood pressure and dust/dust mite allergies.
A month ago at my last doctor’s visit, because of the results from a comprehensive panel of bloodwork, I was ordered to start taking a HUGE number of mega-doses of vitamin and mineral supplements.
Which of course lead me to having a LOT of questions! So I started doing research online and since I blog and I was once upon a time a Librarian, I thought “AHA!” — instant blog post series! Woot!
Standard disclaimer:
I am not a doctor. I am not giving medical advice. I’m just sharing my own experiences.
Before you make any changes that could affect your health, you should talk to your doctor first!
So, here’s the next drug/supplement on my list:
Niacin
Q: When and how should I take Niacin?
A: Talk to your doctor for doses and frequency. — I was taking it 2 x per day, once around 9 in the morning and then again around 9 at night, 500mg Extended-Release tablet.
Q: Any drug interactions that I should watch for?
A: YES! as with most drugs there is a big long list of possible interactions, but…
OMG! This drug/supplement interacts apparently interacts with just about EVERYTHING! And it has some funky side effects too! After discussing things with my doctor, she ordered me to stop taking it.
The reasons my doctor order me to stop taking it were:
(1) I was having hot flashes. My whole body seemed to rise in temperature; I could literally put my hand close to an arm or leg and feel the heat radiating from my body.
(2) My face would have a kind of “pin-prick” sensation all over my head, face and ears. Very similar to the feeling that you get when the circulation returns to an arm or leg that “went to sleep.”
Reasons number 1 & 2 above are actually pretty common side effects. And while feeling weird, are worth putting up with because of the benefits of taking the Niacin.
The reason a doctor will order you to take Niacin is to lower bad cholesterol and increase the good cholesterol. Which is something I need to do based on that huge panel of blood tests my doctor did on me.
IF it had only been the funky flashes, then my doctor would have told me to keep taking the drug as long as they didn’t increase in frequency or intensity.
But the thing that caused my doctor to order me to stop was:
(3) Niacin was interfering with the effectiveness of Janumet (50 mg/1000 mg) and Invokana (300 mg), the two drugs I take to control my Type 2 Diabetes.
The day after I began taking Niacin, I noticed Read the rest of this entry
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This has been a good week!
Where to start? So much news to share…
One of the hardest things about writing and/or blogging, is deciding on just what to write about and how much to write. Ideas are always popping into my head. I have a post-it note program on my Mac that I use to jot down ideas about topics as they occur in an attempt to stay organized.
Sometimes I even start a post then save it as a draft to finish later. We will not even begin to discuss how many of those I have saved in draft mode waiting for me to return and finish the post… sigh
And then I have a week like the one just past, so chock full of stuff that it generates even MORE ideas!
“Whateva shall I do? I feel faint with the stress of it all…”
[using my best Southern Belle / accent]
[Hmmmm…I think I need some liquid fortification…]
“Oh waiter! YoooooHoooo! A chocolate martini! Stat!“
…..ssssslllllluuuuurrrrrrpppp…. Ahhhhh! That’s better.
Now, where was I? A lot happened this week.
Since I have been accused of digression in posts past, I am determined to turn over a new leaf. Plus, that chocolate martini is gonna get warm if I don’t make this quick. 😉
Therefore, for the ultra-minimalist crowd:
It has indeed been a very good week!
There.
I’m done.
What? You want more?
Tsk-tsk-tsk You guys should know better than ask me for “more” — Brevity is not a strong point of mine… but I’m gonna try.
How’s this then?
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Words, pictures, blogging, the hats we wear and the stories we tell…
I’ve been thinking…
Hey it has to happen every once in a while!
Seriously, I’ve been having this kind of firestorm going on in the back of my head when I eat, watch TV, fiddle on the net, exercise, plan for my return to the world of dance, sleep, tinkle…
Uhmmm was that TMI? It has been going on for about two or three weeks now and it came to a head (kinda sorta) in yesterday’s blog post.
There is lots of debris flying around in that thought typhoon: stress about my finances, the challenges that lie ahead, the reality that the road is going to be tough, that my life is about to change yet again, uncertainty, angst. Now toss in a new found political awareness and activism, frustration that the system, the environment, and so many factors seems rigged against people trying to better themselves.
A huge chunk of that inner thought tornado is the difficulty in conveying why when “I went to the grocery store and to my storage unit today” should be received by the listener with the same respect as someone saying “I just ran a marathon in record time.” — more on that in a later post. For now, please accept it as one tiny line of paint to be included in a much larger painting. A thread in a larger tapestry.
However, there is a center. A “core” to that whirling maelstrom inside my brain.
In every case, somehow it all comes back around to WORDS!.
And how inadequate they sometimes are. How easily they can be misunderstood and the meaning behind the words lost when they come from me to another person.
Words and the inadequacy of “words.” How they can either soar and convey with perfect clarity emotions and thoughts or they can plumment horribly and thud into the ground, like bricks falling from a workman’s scaffold, creating the most awful mess!
Arrrrrrrgggghhhhh!!!!!!!
Here, on this blog, on any blog, the words are both the solution and the problem. How to use them? Which ones to use? Do I write about this or that? Share this bit or that bit? If writing about that bit then “how?” In what way? Get the idea?
Let’s break it down a little; use those words to illustrate:
Here I am in Dallas, sitting in my room (which needs desperately to be neatened, dusted, and cleaned up). Over in one corner is a shirt and a pair of pants that need to be thrown into the laundry hamper which is itself overflowing. On my futon are my pillows from last night, and the sheets from last night which really should have been neatly folded and put into the closet for the day, but weren’t. The futon is still in it’s “inclined” night-time sleeping position instead of being moved to it’s upright “day-time” couch position.
Right next to my desk I have a stack of three boxes and a stack of two boxes. These boxes are detritus from my storage unit which I’m slowly working through: sorting, selling on CraigsList, tossing in the trash OR giving away the enclosed “junk” and “stuff” to the local resale shop which benefits the LGBT community called “Out of the Closet.” Watch for the return of my “online garage sale” as I work my way through that pile and the much larger pile-o-clutter that I need to get OUT of my house!
I have a half finished diet soda on my desk (which I really swore I would not be drinking any more of… …I should be switching to green tea instead). My desk is as cluttered as my mind. Lots of stuff left in mid project, bits of this and bits of that.
Yer basic slice-o-Tony’s Life in fifty words or less…
About those words…
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My not so “quick” “quick post” about good stuff that is happening!
Random bits of “good news“
OK folks, I have NOT had my morning coffee so this may end up being a bit of “free association”
HOWEVER… I wanted to share a random assortment of things that have happened in the past little while that are AWESOME.
So in no particular order…
My blood glucose number was 119 this morning…
…well below the 130 max my doctor has set for my “fasting” level. “Fasting” means “just before breakfast” YAY!
I woke up this morning at a teeny tiny bit just past 9 am.
Yes, you read that correctly. OMG! Of course it probably helped that I went to bed last night around 11-ish. But this is unusual for me. My normal range is 2am – 10/11 am.
And recently, over the past month and a half, I’ve not been able to get to sleep until 4 or 5 or 6 am after which I sleep 8-10 hours and wake up waaaaaaaayyyy after the “day” has started for most folks,
So… getting up at 9am where I’d really LIKE my wake up time to be so this is great. YAY!
And this has been the case now for almost an entire week! So my sleep patters may be shifting back to the “typical norm” YAY!
I went to my doctor yesterday…
…and I had dropped 8 lbs from my last visit to her office. YAY!
I had gone to her because I have ringing in my ears. She is trying a couple of things and said she’ll send me to a specialist if the stuff she is trying doesn’t work and stop the ringing within a couple of weeks. YAY!
Since I was there anyway, she went ahead and did the “follow up” stuff — monitoring my diabetes and high blood pressure and weight management stuff.
I showed her my chart from the blood glucose testing meter and I’ve been 95% within the target range that she has set for my blood sugar. She was all happy about that! Woot!
And the reason this “doctor stuff” is unqualified “good news” is because thanks to President Obama and thousands of people who worked very hard to pass and protect the ACA, I am under medical care. Before qualifying for the ACA subsidiy I would have just ignored the ringing in my ears, and my diabetes and … well you get the picture. Health insurance is good. YAY!
Not having health insurance. BAD. – not “yay”
AND this is “good news” because when I called up to make the appointment, she said that she would bill me for the $20 copay. She said I could pay it after the first of the month when I get my pension check. Which is awesome because if she had not said that I would have not been able to go.
My checking balance, the day before yesterday, on Monday, when I called her to make the appointment, was sitting at 67 cents. Yes, under a dollar. So having a doctor who cares more about getting me in to see her when I need care than about making me wait to get that $20 copay is a good thing! A very good thing.
YAY!!! in fact DOUBLE YAY!
Slllluuuurrrrppppp…… Ahhhhhhhhhhh — first sip of coffee.
You know that you are officially a caffeine addict when you whole body gives this little shudder of anticipation as soon as you have that first sip.
There is no way the caffeine can have hit your system yet, but the taste buds let the rest of the body know that the fix is on its way…
Oh-so-YAY!
By the way, the cute cat clutching a mug of coffee over to the right is one of my designs from my store: TxCowboyDancer Designs (yes this is a shameless plug) — but check it out when you get a chance. 🙂
5-6-7-8 Dancing My Way to a Healthy Me! 