But It’s Strawberry!

Try making a list. Not a big list. Not a serious, inspiring, motivating, nudge-your-butt TO DO LIST. ‘

No. No. No. No. No.

A Little List. A FUN LIST.

I make a nice, relaxed, no pressure, doesn’t-have-to-be-perfect, not final, not-gonna-be-laminated, fun list of say 3 items.

A list that requires some thought. Something fun to think about. And I give it a name. Because it’s fun giving names to lists. It makes them official. And it’s fun when things are official. Even if they are unofficially official.

So a little list of 3 items.

Sometimes I go to 5 items. Or 7. Or 10 if I really get into it. Or if the subject matter calls for it.

And sometimes I’m contrary and I say “Let’s just go to 9. Because the number 10 gets too much attention.”

So I make a lot of lists  And here is why. This is what you came here for. You didn’t just come here to hear me blab about whatever. And if you did, I appreciate you. 🤎

But here is the takeaway:

Making a quick list is a fast way to disengage your brain from something bad and easily engage it in something different and good. That tip, tool, trick, technique, hack, tact, plan of attack, approach works for me and it may work for you. Pick the semantics that get you going. It’s YOUR brain. Pick the semantics that make sense to you.

For me, →MAKE A LIST always works. Pretty much almost always. It works especially well for me because I’m almost always at my laptop or within reach of my phone. If I’m on my laptop, I’ve got my journal open, ready for missives from my mind. If I’m on my phone, I can text myself, dictate a note or a memo, do a video, capture that information in lots of simple ways.

So, to be totally redundant, here it is:

When my mind wants to do something I would rather it not do, or when it goes where I would rather it not go, I default to making a list. →MAKE A LIST

FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVORS:

(1) STRAWBERRY
(2) COFFEE OR SOMETHING WITH COFFEE IN IT
(3) VANILLA WITH CARAMEL
(4) BROWNIE BUT ONLY IF THERE’S A LOT OF VANILLA

FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVORS is an easy one. I tend to do FAVORITE ICE CREAM variation lists because my cravings always change.  And for some reason, I always think about flavors I don’t tend to actually buy or order. Like that pralines and cream. YUM. I know it’s so delicious. I can almost taste it if I think about it. But the problem is that if I ordered it, I would miss another flavor. And I usually crave another flavor like coffee or strawberry or peanut butter. But I love thinking about all the chocolate flavors. Especially the ribbons and swirls and crunches. But I usually end up getting strawberry for some reason. Probably because strawberry is so amazing.

Okay, now I need ice cream.

Lesson #1
Beware of Making Food Lists

OR Lesson #2
FOOD LISTS ALWAYS WORK!

The lesson is completely yours to determine. For me, food lists are great because I instantly get engaged (and confused) thinking about food. So I instantly disengage from the bad content I am trying to avoid or distract myself from. . Whether I remain disengaged is a different issue. That is a more advanced skill that we’ll talk about later. But a food list will temporarily turn my attention away from an upsetting conversation, violent screen, upsetting song or otherwise triggering whatever.

You know what I mean. Content that is not good for the mind at that moment.

So a quick food list is an easy GO TO LIST for me.  I always like thinking about food even if I’m too lazy to do anything about it.

Now YOU may want to stay away from food lists for the exact opposite reason. Food may be your bad place to go. Food may be your actual obsession or a problem in some other way. So fine. Do MUSIC or MOVIES or GAMES or some other form of media..

FAVORITE LOVE SONGS –  THAT is a good one.

(1) Waiting for a Girl Like You
(2) Color My World
(3) Miracles

Your Favorite Falling In Love Songs. Favorite Break Up Songs.  Best Dates Ever.

Obviously, you may need a list of 5 or 10 for those. Or 50. Wink Wink. 🤎

So you get the concept.

Why don’t we list our FAVORITE CARS.  I’ll leave the number up to you. Because everybody’s number of special cars is so personal to them. Your number will match your life story.

I’ll post mine later in the comments. You post yours too. I’ll just give you a heads up right now that there’s gonna be a Green AMC Javelin in my list. And it had a stripe. And I can’t believe I lived to tell the tale of that car. I think it held the world’s record for breakdowns.

So go on now and make your list. Off with you. List your favorite cars.  And I’ll list mine. And we’ll meet back here later in the comments.

Or you can email me your list if you’re too shy for the comments. I love your emails. They help me to know what kinds of information you want. 🤎

I am putting together a Q&A on TMS & OCD. If you have any questions you would like answered, you can email them to me at dee at dailydee dot com.

Hope your Monday is a quiet one leading to a productive and reasonable week with some summer fun thrown in.

How’s THAT for hopefulness?

See? I got hope!

Got hope? Make a Quick Hope List

Favorite Treats You Hope to Make Happen This Week

     (1) Hike to Georgetown
     (2) Pop Tarts!!!
     (3) Listen to Favorite Podcasts (requires hitting deadlines)

There! A Hope List!

Go!

xoxoxo, d and bella