Tuesday, June 25, 2019

#2286: Tuesday, June 25: My life as a dog


Post 2286
- 8 years and 176 days since I started this blog -
  
Daily Comment
My sister told me one of my survival skills, maybe even one of my virtues, is that I'm easy to please.

A dog who sees getting walked as the best part of his day, even if his master regards it  as a burdensome chore. In this scenario, I'm the dog.

I'm that Pollyanna who looks for the good in everything, then seizes that as the part to focus on.

Not to say I can't be thrown off my game, and not enjoy something, or feel discomfort, or pain. That happens. But my worst moments have led to my best moments. Things work out. Every detour seems to route me to something good I might not have otherwise encountered.

So I do that. I try and see the potential good in everything, and take pleasure where I encounter it, disregarding what would undermine my enjoyment.

I am easily entertained and easily pleased.

The corollary is that I try not to be offended by what doesn't please me. I am analytical and critical, but I don't assume this gives me the right to label good and bad. Those things make a judgment on something external, when it is my subjective perceptions, not the intrinsic nature of the object, that are in play.

Whether a thing pleases me or not says more about me than about the thing itself.

A dish I don't enjoy may be enjoyed by someone else whose tastes are different. The dish is not good or bad, and all my analysis of it does is describe my tastes, not the dish's merits.

I will recommend a dish that pleases me, a band whose performance I like, movies and tv shows that I think are entertaining or have educational value. I will be able to say why, in purely subjective terms, I make that recommendation. But I will not be attached to the idea that my likes and dislikes are anything but self-referential.

It is liberating to not be judgmental about things. It allows you to enjoy things more easily if you don't make everything a test of value or worth. It makes things simpler and easier.


I think this is why people love dogs. They don't find them judgmental. Dogs don't analyze, they respond simply: A threat gets a snarl, everything else gets a wag of the tail.

I try to be like that. I'm grateful for the times I succeed.

Food and Diet 
Today's Weight:                    199.2 lbs.
Previous Weight (6/24/19):         200.6 lbs.
Net Loss/Gain:                     - 1.4 lbs.

Diet Comment
A good comeback for me!
Food Log
Breakfast
3:35pm: Eggs scrambled with sauteed onions and bacon, and a chopped salad (arugula, cabbage, chard, kale, spinach and balsamic vinaigrette).

Lunch
7:55pm, at The Listening Room at 443: Balboa panini: Seasoned roast beef, sharp provolone, garlic butter and horseradish mayonnaise on Pasta's stretch bread.

Dinner
12:45am: Manchego cheese, walnuts and cottage cheese, and a Quest bar.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 2;   Coffee: 20 oz.;  Water: 92+ oz.;  and a pour of Jameson Irish Whiskey.


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