I used to write every day before eating breakfast. It’s now 8:09 PM and I’m just starting to write. I’ll eat dinner when I’m done. I’m writing while watching the Met game. They are up 9-1 so I won’t feel bad about missing some of it to cook.
Yesterday I was feeling blah. I had therapy today and that helped so much. The Mets just scored three runs and that helps too, not as much as therapy. My therapist taught me a great concept, surge capacity. When we are in a crisis there’s that place we can reach down to and muster extra resources, mental and physical. Thanks to COVID-19 we’ve exhausted our surge capacity. We are in fight or flight for months with no end in sight. I have felt that I’ve been adjusting better than most, but I’m feeling it now. I have to take measures to boost my mental energy.
What helped more than the therapy was doing my therapy homework. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, and I took a walk. It was only 1.1 mile and I took it easy, but I literally stopped to smell the roses.
I even made a mental health stop, dollar pizza. I took it to a bench where I was 20 feet from anyone else and ate it like a civilized New Yorker. One of the guys at the pizzeria was wearing a Mets cap as was I. I complimented on it and he complimented on mine too. That kind of social interaction was part of my therapy homework. I normally do it, I especially appreciate Met fans in the Bronx, home of the Yankees.
My original plan was to go out to buy Q-Tips that I needed to fix my broken Roku remote. As I said yesterday, the batteries leaked, and it didn’t work when I replaced them. I had to clean the contacts. A little online research told me to clean the contacts with a 50/50 mixture of white vinegar and water applied with a Q-Tip. As I was getting ready to leave I went to the bathroom to fix my ponytail. When I took the hair ties off I glanced down on the shelf and found a baggie full of Q-Tips. I don’t think it’s the ones I bought. These had been sitting there for god-knows-how-long, but I wasn’t going to look a gift-swab in the mouth. They were sitting behind something and I could only see them from the side, from the exact spot I was standing. That’s how I missed them before.
When I got home I cleaned the battery case. The instructions said to give it plenty of time to dry. I used that time to do more therapy homework, calling a friend, the unlucky friend was Emily. We had a good long talk. I got to catch up with her and what’s going on with her kids. This was almost literally what the doctor ordered but my therapist is not a doctor, she’s an MSW. I got off the phone to watch the Mets and Emily had to make dinner. The first thing I did was put the batteries in the remote and try it out. It worked! Now I can return the remote to the TV it belongs with, the only one I can watch the Mets on.
I feel so much better now. The Mets are winning 14-1, deGrom is probably done for the night, so I can safely leave the game and make a delicious dinner. It will be healthier but not tastier than what I ate last night. I was having a bad night and didn’t eat until after 10 PM and didn’t want to cook and more importantly clean up. I made a peanut butter and bacon sandwich. That’s two of the basic food groups in one dish! No matter how bad I’m feeling that will make me feel better. I always feel up to making breakfast. I had eggs and scrapple this morning.
One last great thing, Barnaby Bright released a new music video. Watch it.
Wise Madness 