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Post 1714, Day 232 of 2016
- 2,058 days since I started this blog -
- 2,058 days since I started this blog -
Daily Comment
Sometimes I feel embarrassed by my cheerful, optimistic view.
It seems too sweet, too simple, too naive.
Then I have a day like this one, where events conspire to spoil my mood.
In this case, it was going out to do some shopping, take care of a favor for a friend, and pick up a new prescription (replacing generic thyroid hormone supplement, which recently has been over-producing TH, with brand-name.
I walked out on this sunny hot day to find my car with a flat tire.
This entailed my first experience with the Kia donut replacement tire, and jack. But only after I had completely emptied the amps and gig equipment that live in the back of the Kia.
There were no intellectual challenges involved, but I could be very angry with the Kia engineers for their crappy tire-changing tools. By the time I'd gotten the amps back in my apartment storage bin, donut on, bad tire in the back (I couldn't see the reason for the flat, but the tire tread was markedly reduced), I had sweated through my t-shirt
I went upstairs and took my second shower of the day. Then I went to the place I bought the tire, and was faced with the large (unexpected and budget-busting) expense of replacing the tire.
On to my errands.
My new prescription cost just under a hundred bucks, out of pocket for a 3-month supply. That's more than I'd spent on prescription drugs in all of 2015 when both of my prescriptions were generic.
My initial reaction to all these events (as they unfolded) was a mix of anger, frustration, indignation. But that doesn't last even a minute. I have become adept at letting things go as I realize that the 'pain' of material loss is insubstantial, especially, as is the case here, when the expenditure is relatively mandatory and can be handled without causing (real) deprivation somewhere else.
In the past, I would have "awful-ized" this stuff, imagining what I would do with the money I had just spent if I hadn't had to spend it on these 'tragedies'. I might have fed my indignation or frustration.
I think my meditation practice, and my resonance with basic Buddhist principles has helped, along with my 'letting go' technique (when required... not often, as one of the side results of having it is not needing to use it as much).
These things let me deal with unpleasant circumstances, especially relatively little things, without getting emotionally roiled up.
Not to say I am unemotional, or that I have perfected my calm and tranquility. Far from it. I just try to handle it without self-destruction, without starting a negative feedback loop, trying to see how it effects my present circumstances.
In this case, the major effect on me was that I got a little unplanned-for exercise, took a lot longer to do errands than I had planned, and reduced the balance of my ready-reserve fund a little. I didn't miss any appointments, or hurt myself in any way in the present.
Since the pharmacy I use is at Wegman's, where I do my grocery shopping (not, today, on my errands list), I just bought my favorite ice cream (Bittersweet Sinphony - hey, I'd exercised!). Which was on sale.
It seems too sweet, too simple, too naive.
Then I have a day like this one, where events conspire to spoil my mood.
In this case, it was going out to do some shopping, take care of a favor for a friend, and pick up a new prescription (replacing generic thyroid hormone supplement, which recently has been over-producing TH, with brand-name.
I walked out on this sunny hot day to find my car with a flat tire.
This entailed my first experience with the Kia donut replacement tire, and jack. But only after I had completely emptied the amps and gig equipment that live in the back of the Kia.
There were no intellectual challenges involved, but I could be very angry with the Kia engineers for their crappy tire-changing tools. By the time I'd gotten the amps back in my apartment storage bin, donut on, bad tire in the back (I couldn't see the reason for the flat, but the tire tread was markedly reduced), I had sweated through my t-shirt
I went upstairs and took my second shower of the day. Then I went to the place I bought the tire, and was faced with the large (unexpected and budget-busting) expense of replacing the tire.
On to my errands.
My new prescription cost just under a hundred bucks, out of pocket for a 3-month supply. That's more than I'd spent on prescription drugs in all of 2015 when both of my prescriptions were generic.
My initial reaction to all these events (as they unfolded) was a mix of anger, frustration, indignation. But that doesn't last even a minute. I have become adept at letting things go as I realize that the 'pain' of material loss is insubstantial, especially, as is the case here, when the expenditure is relatively mandatory and can be handled without causing (real) deprivation somewhere else.
In the past, I would have "awful-ized" this stuff, imagining what I would do with the money I had just spent if I hadn't had to spend it on these 'tragedies'. I might have fed my indignation or frustration.
I think my meditation practice, and my resonance with basic Buddhist principles has helped, along with my 'letting go' technique (when required... not often, as one of the side results of having it is not needing to use it as much).
These things let me deal with unpleasant circumstances, especially relatively little things, without getting emotionally roiled up.
Not to say I am unemotional, or that I have perfected my calm and tranquility. Far from it. I just try to handle it without self-destruction, without starting a negative feedback loop, trying to see how it effects my present circumstances.
In this case, the major effect on me was that I got a little unplanned-for exercise, took a lot longer to do errands than I had planned, and reduced the balance of my ready-reserve fund a little. I didn't miss any appointments, or hurt myself in any way in the present.
Since the pharmacy I use is at Wegman's, where I do my grocery shopping (not, today, on my errands list), I just bought my favorite ice cream (Bittersweet Sinphony - hey, I'd exercised!). Which was on sale.
Food and Diet
Today's Weight: 200.8 lbs.
Diet Comment
Previous Weight (8/18): 200.6 lbs.
Net Loss/Gain: + 0.2 lbs.
Diet Comment
Completing a whole week of weight gain on a high note - gaining has slowed.
Food Log
Breakfast
4:45pm: A quart of Bittersweet Symphony ice cream, as a reward for a trying day (eating the whole quart was punishment for using an off-plan food treat for a reward).
Dinner
10:45pm: London broil and a chopped salad with spinach, kale, chard, cabbage, celery, Dubliner cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing.
Liquid Intake
Lunch
7:00pm: A Quest bar.Dinner
10:45pm: London broil and a chopped salad with spinach, kale, chard, cabbage, celery, Dubliner cheese and balsamic vinegar dressing.
Liquid Intake
Espressos: 1; Coffee: 0 oz.; Tea: 0 oz.; Water: 64+ oz.
Please leave a comment if you visit my blog. Thank you!
That scenario seems incredibly annoying to me. Good for you. I would have just called triple a. I saw toots and the maytals Friday. They were good
ReplyDeleteIt was - but the trick is to not let your feelings, which are transient, turn into emotions, which are the stories we tell about our feelings, and give them, if not permanence, longer duration. It happens, you feel this or that, let it go.
ReplyDeleteToots is a remarkable performer. Glad to hear he can still put on a good show.
Based on his performance at NOLA Jazz Fest, I went to see Walter Trout's sold-out show at a local music hall Sunday. His performance was a clone of the show I saw back in April, down to the between-song talk. The songs and playing were all great (and may not have been note-for-note what I heard almost 4 months ago), but I felt ambivalent. Also, the place was hot and there were no seats. I left early to first walk down the block and see a friend and band-mate's new group, then went out to jam.