Tag: coping

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to share a happy memory with someone who means a lot to you.

I am lucky in life with quite a few people mean a lot to me. Today, I decided to touch base with someone whose company I’ve enjoyed quite a few times. This person is a fellow speaker who I’ve seen at quite a few events over the years. We’ve had both professional and social time through years and become friends.

In particular there was an event we attended where we went for an early morning walk before a busy day. I don’t remember what we talked about, but for some reason that walk stands out as a pleasant memory for me that I cherish.

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to share a friendly smile when you encounter someone else today.

This has been something I’ve tried to do over the last year, but when wearing a mask, it’s tough to know if a smile is received.

When we stopped wearing masks in the gym (for vaccinated people), one of my yoga instructors noted that it was nice to see faces and smiles after so many months. I felt the same way.

Not everyone is in the same place, and even though we have people in my area not wearing masks, some are nervous, some struggling with the aftereffects of a year of the world changing, not working, etc.

As a result, smiles as still important. They help many of us continue to cope with the world.

I was in Florida recently for a sports event, and while many people were not masked, officials were (by requirement). Some were upset, some didn’t care, and often they pulled them down to talk with me when I was acting as the second official. However, I tried to smile a lot and welcome them when they came over.

I definitely ended up getting along with them better than some other coaches

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to make a list of joys in your life over the last 30 days.

A simple list, things that have gone well in 30 days.

1. All my kids were together for (Mother’s and) Father’s days.
2. An exciting and fun time coaching a tournament in a hotel
3. Another fun time coaching, and traveling out of state, to coach
4. Vacation in a new place, Key West.
5. Bucket list item, drive US1 from Miami to Key West
6. Submission accepted for an event
7. New lawnmower
8. Put a hitch on my wife’s car, which involved some learning, a new tool, and some time with one son
9. Fixed my sprinkler system with my son, which was leaking.
10. New master bathroom after renovation
11. Got together 3 times with friends to share some time together.
12. A few date nights with my wife.
13. Maintenance on 3 vehicles complete.
14. Moved a trip that would have really jammed me up for time and created stress.

It’s been a good month

I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag. 

Today’s tip is to notice how positive emotions help you improve your mood.

Over the years I’ve found that the way I view a situation often affects how I feel about it. I get upset, or angry, or sometimes don’t think about anything other than how the situation affects anyone other than me.

Often when I view things differently, I feel differently.

I had planned on going to a user group meeting recently. It was the first in person one, and I was excited. I wanted to see who showed up, and how the organizers ran the event. I let myself get a late start from home and was hungry. I stopped to grab a sandwich, trying to avoid fast food, and ended up waiting a little long. The place was busy, and they were working hard to manage a number of online orders as well as handle the lunch crowd.

I stood there, stressing a bit. All my cushion to get to the meeting was disappearing. I finally got my sandwich, jumped in the car, and race over. I get there to discover that the meeting is next month. I was so excited, I mistook July for June.

I could have been upset, angry, etc. Instead, I laughed at myself a bit and was amused that my excitement for a user group caused the issue. I looked at it as a positive thing. I’m ready for live meetings, and that’s good.