Day 208 - the last workday of this week for me

 Today is the 5th day of the 30th week, the 27th day of the 7th month, the 208th day of 2023, and:

• Ashura
• Barbie-in-a-Blender Day - this was a thing long long before Shapiro!  It started back in 1977 courtesy of Tom Forsyth's photographic series.  It amused those of us who were not Barbie fans.... 
• Bagpipe Appreciation Day
• Black Women's Equal Pay Day
• Cross Atlantic Communication Day - celebrates the completion of the transatlantic cable
• Gary Gyfax Day  AKA Dungeons and Dragons Day
• International Shiraz Day
• Love is Kind Day
• National Chicken Finger Day
• National Chili Dog Day
• National Crème Brûlée Day
• National Intern Day
• National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day
• National New Jersey Day
• National Refreshment Day
• National Scotch Day
• Norfolk Day
• Take Your Houseplants for a Walk Day
• Take Your Pants For a Walk Day
• Walk on Stilts Day

Quote of the day:
"The unexamined life is not worth living."

~ Socrates, of course you might want to consider that he was poisoned by the powers that be for impiety and corrupting the youth before you take lifestyle advice from him

Every day, someone asks in passing "how are you?"  And every day, I reply "I'm okay, how about you?"  And I wonder how many of us tell the world we are okay when we are not.

When you go to the doctor's, Medicare has mandated they ask you if you are anxious about anything.  ((Not sure why they are targeting the population over 65, are we supposed to get upset more easily than anyone else? ))  How do you answer a question like that honestly? 

I am still working full time.  My health has not been the best, I am still recuperating from the severe allergic reaction to Ozempic, I am giving myself 3 - 5 injections of insulin each day, and I am short-winded and tired all the time.  My daughter is just about bedridden from the treatments that cured her breast cancer.  My son is dying from colon cancer that metastasized to his lungs because the VA wouldn't authorize a colonoscopy despite a family history of colon cancer until he was 48 years old.  I live in a country where people are trying to roll back the clock, making both women and minorities subservient to white males, and my granddaughters are going to have to deal with it.  I live in a world that is struggling to be even marginally what we call civilized and be nice to each other.  How the hell am I supposed to feel?  

The key is how you cope with all this.  Examining my life, I find my crisis management mode which got me through so many crisis' doesn't work long term.  What I need to reach for is equanimity - acknowledge the anxiety et al and not let it take over.  Grab moments of peace and contentment when you can find them and try to take things just one day at a time without crossing bridges before you get to them.