Monthly Archives: October 2013

First Race

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I was 11 years old.  In the back of our school in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, in 1971, I ran the 900-yard dash.  On the dirt around the playground I pushed myself as I ran as fast as I could.  Again and again my classmates past me, even tough my mouth was dry, my chest was tight, and the left side of my abdomen was in a knot.  I had on my red Keds.  They were not serving me well.  Three classmates were behind me when I reached the finish line. There was little pleasure in that. 

            I knew I was not a runner.  I took this knowledge with me for a long time.  I liked to walk and I enjoyed walking for miles in the city, my favorite mode of transportation.  Often joggers passed me by, and I looked at them as if they were another species.  Friends of mine would speak of their runs, their races, their ability to go miles in any type of weather.  Not me, I just walked. 

            And, then two years ago I tried to run.  A friend suggested I could run a slow pace, so that I could be gentle on knees, and not hurt my lungs.  It worked.  As 70 year old runners passed me by, I started out jogging a quarter mile, a half, and then one full mile.  It felt great.  I liked it.  I could do something I never thought I could do. 

And, then this past weekend, I ran my first races.  Yesterday I walked to Randall’s Island and slowly but surely ran the 5K, or 3.3 miles.  Because I am so slow, I had a lot of space between me and the next runner.  I happily passed walkers, but wasn’t even close the other runners.  I didn’t care.  This was for me, and I could put one foot in front of the other towards the finish line. 

It felt good to complete the race.  Larry, my husband, and Lucy our Tibetan Terrier were there to cheer me on coming an going.  It was so nice to have them there.  And, today I was in Central Park to run a five-mile race.  I don’t know my time.  I didn’t even bother to find out.  For me, the fact that I was there was enough.  I have no designs on a marathon.  Being able to run at all is a win for me. Image

Mood Minders

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Weight Watchers is known in the diet arena for their Points Plus platform. Inspired by their model, I am introducing my own points program.  It is a diet, but not of the food variety.  My points program is based on overall attitude rather than foods and exercise.  I am naming it “Mood Minders”™, an alliteration to assure successful branding. 

            Mood Minders”™ works like this.  We start out with twenty points per day, with an extra 40 points for the week to use at your discretion. You can use a portion of your weekly points daily, or you can save them up and have a full fledged tantrum at the end of the week, if you like. 

Neutral moods are zero points.  So if I’m observing a situation but not getting upset or making it personal, then it’s a zero points experience.   For instance, if I’m watching a driver parallel park on my block, and I notice they must be from the suburbs where they normally park in a lot, but I am not critical of the many maneuvers they make to come as close as 10 inches from the curb, then it’s zero points.  However, if I make a nasty comment to my husband and we banter on about our superior parking acumen as compared to the shnook in the car, then it goes from zero points to costing me four points.  Two points for being catty, two points for innocuous gossiping.  Cruel gossip can cost as much as ten points, since it’s not just a mood, but can be mean spirited. 

            We earn the most points, eight, by volunteering, random acts of kindness, and true forgiveness.  Laughter and joy earn us a hefty five.  Patience and generosity are also worth six points.  And, the good news is patience for yourself, as well as for others, is counted as well.  I was able to earn my six points when I made a mistake in my Mood Minders™ meeting by pronouncing omniscient, “omni cent.”  While being corrected by one of the self proclaimed intellectuals in the group, I felt my face flush, thanked him for correcting me, and smiled meekly.  If it weren’t for my minding my points, I might have made a pathetic excuse, while silently cursing him for saying anything.  Instead of costing me points, I gained points, forgiving myself for my error, and forgiving him for using my mistake to show off. 

            Based on my new program, my well wishing to Weight Watchers gave me three bonus points.  I can later use those points in the event I find myself being critical, like when I ask tight-lipped that my husband pick up his dirty socks, again, as I did yesterday and the day before that.  Of course, a program as rigorous as Mood Minders™ should be done with the support of a group and a group leader (me).  Note:   I do not lose any points for arrogance since I did not claim to be a great leader.  I merely stated my role within the group.

Let’s take a look to see how some of patients, I mean Mood Minders™ group members, have fared. 

Norma wasn’t quite depressed, but she was constantly comparing herself to others, whining that her life wasn’t as good. She had been known to describe herself as miserable. This always cost her four points, two for complaining, and two for burdening others with her gloom. It took the loss of many points in meetings to get Norma to finally track her points.  She as appalled and dismayed to find out that while she viewed her misery to be the fault of others, in the end she was in a points deficit herself.  She started recording, and has now created herself anew.

Then there’s middle-aged Paul.  He was a rageaholic.  If something didn’t meet his expectations he would yell, bullying others to change things so he could be appeased.  He would become virtually apoplectic when on the phone with his cable server when there was a service failure.  But once he started working the Mood Minders™ technique, he thought twice before he reacted.  He realized he had a choice about instantly becoming irate.  He learned to take a moment before reacting.  He started to think before he went into a complete frenzy. It’s not that Paul doesn’t ever get angry anymore.  But he knows he only has a certain amount of set points for his rage, so he judicially uses them when a situation is worthy of that response.   Paul can now manage to stay relatively calm when speaking with his IT manager, even when his computer is on the fritz, because he knows that being patient with him will help him get the result he wants.  He still yells at sales people from time to time.  But not always, and never in the few hours on Tuesday before he attends his Mood Minders™ meeting. 

Amy started Mood Minders™ when her anxiety was at an all time high.  She was a worrier.  Once she found out that she could earn points for laughing she had would intersperse her angst with mirth.  She stopped frowning as much, saving her countless thousands in botox injections.

Although Norma, Paul and Amy are a mere sampling of the possibilities of Mood Minders,™, there are all kinds of unhappy people. And, if you’re reading this and thinking you are above Mood Minders,™  Think twice.  Self-righteous indignation is a lonely path, and a holier-than-thou attitude will cost you a hefty 5 points.  But by following MM’s simple outline, life can be more enjoyable.  

           

 

A quick outline of Mood Minders™:

 

*You have the power to choose how you react to situations.

*You can minimize your unhappiness, and maximize pleasure

*You can still be miserable, if you like, your points are yours to use

 

Zero point moods:

Feeling your feelings without judgment, Observation, patiently waiting

One Point:  Mild annoyance, Apprehension, Slight Impatience, Boredom

Two Points: Rolling your eyes at someone’s comment; having a bit of a snide tone when speaking

Three Points:  Defensiveness, Being Judgmental

Four Points:  Mild Gossip, Self-righteous Indignation

Five Points:  Being a Naysayer, Help-Rejecter (Someone who asks for help, then when given the help they reject the offerings)

Six Points:  Quitting Because You Don’t like the Probable Outcome, Bragging at the expense of Someone Else, or Trying to Look Better than Another

Seven Points:  Scaring Another with Your Anger; Scaring Yourself by Coming Up with Worse Case Scenarios

Eight Points:  Intentional, mean-spirited gossip; Laughing At someone in public

Above Eight Points:  Taunting, Bullying, Spiraling with Fear or Anxiety, Saying hateful things to yourself

 

**Bonus Points**:

One: Refraining from Sending Superstitious Chain emails; Smiling

Two: Small forgivenesses; Being a Good Sport

Three: Giving Compliments; Writing Thank you Notes

Four: Keeping Your Judgmental Opinion to Yourself

Five:  Full-out laughter; Spreading joy

Six:  Patience; Generosity

Seven:  Good Manners; Being Gracious

Eight:  Volunteering; Random Acts of Kindness, True Forgiveness

Joyous Laughter, Glee, Volunteering, Random Acts of Kindness, Forgiveness, Complimenting others, Taking responsibility for one’s actions, Giving Anonymously to Charity, Charitable Giving (less of a bonus, but on the plus side, nonetheless)

 

 

If you want more information, or you think the Mood Minders™ itinerary is right for you, you can become a founding member of Mood Minders™ for a generous fee.  The high cost will ensure you extra weekly points since you will be contributing to the growing prosperity of this amazing program.

No Problem Rant

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Unknown Last week I visited a museum.  I was excited to see a new exhibit.  I went to the membership desk to get my pass, and was partially greeted by a 20-something intern or part-time employee.  She was having a laugh with a co-worker and was in no rush to help me.  After she finished her exchange with the other intern, she turned to me, looked at my card, and gave me my day pass.  I said, “Thank you.”  Though perhaps I was less gracious than I would have been for a more professional interaction. She said, “No Problem.”  unfortunately, this is not unusual.  When did “You’re Welcome” become ubiquitous?  When I thank a service provider what I now often get in return is “No Problem.”  As in “Thank you for helping me with the party.”  Mary was hired to help serve and clean-up at a party we gave this summer.  At the end of the evening, I thanked her for the work.  She responded with “No Problem.”  My thought was, it shouldn’t be a problem, it was your job.  “My pleasure,” is an appropriate response.  “No Problem” should be reserved for those times when you want to put someone at ease.  When my friend takes me out to lunch and I thank her, she says, “No Problem.” Lovely.  It is a kind response and it equalizes the imbalance of having her pay.  When my cousin went out of her way to visit my parents, and I acknowledge her for it.  She said, “No Problem.”  It was generous to say that since she spent time and took the time and effort to do a nice thing.  However, more often I hear “No Problem” in situations in which there was never an implied problem in the first place.  And, I hear this all the time, at the grocery check out,  the coffee shop, restaurants, sales people, help desks, and more.

The only time I want to hear, no problem, is when a friend has done me a favor and I thank them.  Then  “No Problem” is a wonderful response.  But doing one’s job is not doing me a favor. It’s Your Job!  I assume it is not problem for anyone to do the tasks that make up the job and for which he or she is paid.  If it is a problem, perhaps getting a different job is in order.  I miss good service, and helpful staff.  It may be generational.  And, if so, let’s err on the side of manners, and have that be “No Problem.”