Pat yourself on the back.

Good things I did today

First Music:  Bebe Rexha, “I’m a mess”

Second Music: The Pretenders, “Don’t get me wrong”

Script:

It’s The William Tell Show.
I call myself William Tell; you can call me Bill.
Thank you for including me in your world.
Donald Trump was supposed to be reinstated on August 13th, but that didn’t happen.
I’m frustrated as hell,
but there’s nothing I can do about it.

Many years ago, I heard about a practice you can use
to boost your self-esteem and become happier.
Every night, right before bed,
you look in the mirror and tell yourself about
three good things you did that day.
Then, you let yourself feel proud
for having done those things.

So, a couple months ago, I began doing this myself,
only I write the things down in my diary.  Otherwise,
I might forget some good thing I did in the morning.
I add to the list during the day, and read it before bed.

A few days ago, this practice entered a new phase.
In the middle of the day, I may have to plan out
good things to do, in order to add them to my list.
Imagining good things to do — that, all by itself,
lets me feel happier, and I look forward to being proud.

For examples of what I put in my list,
I may as well share what’s in the list for today.
It doesn’t have to be anything major;
even trivial things can be important.

First thing on my list.
Royal Farms has Krispy Kreme donuts; they’re the best.
I used to buy three or four every day for after supper.
BUT:  I have issues with my weight and blood sugar,
so I’m trying to cut back to only one per day.
For me, this takes a real act of self-discipline.
So, the first thing on my list today is, Bought one donut.
I need to let myself feel proud for having done that.

Second thing on my list:  I did a laundry.
You might think a tedious, mundane, routine thing
like that isn’t necessarily something to be proud of.
But I needed to get it done today,
and I had to overcome many obstacles to do it.
I’m proud of myself for having done that.

The last thing on my list is composing this episode itself.
Today was supposed to be my routine trip downtown,
but the bus that was supposed to come at 12:30
didn’t come at all, and I was left with a day with no plans.
Now, I’m composing this episode on August 17^th.
I needed to come up with a project to do this afternoon.
I knew that this episode was due for September 7,
so I set myself to trying to think up something upbeat to talk about.
I settled on the topic we’re talking about now; and so,
here we are.  I did it.

So here’s a simple thing you can do,
that may boost your self-esteem and make you happier.
Every night, right before bed, look at yourself in the mirror
and tell yourself three good things you did that day.
It took several weeks before I began seeing results,
but it is helping me, and it might help you.

Let’s take a break.

[Commercial break]

Self-management has been a prominent theme
throughout my blog and podcast.
I think it deserves to be.
Anyone’s first responsibility in life
is to manage one’s own affairs,
making the best use one can of one’s resources,
one’s opportunities, and one’s emotions;
presenting the best self one can
to the people one meets in person, in real life,
from day to day.  The people one can reach out and touch.

That’s where one has power;
that’s where one has responsibility.
There’s not one thing I can do about the Taliban.
But the people I meet here at the shelter,
the people I meet on the street,
the people who listen to my podcast and read my blog —
they are the ones I answer for.

I talk about working at self-management every day,
and I do work at it every day
and my testimony is,
it’s worth it.

We have two music selections today.
The first is, Bebe Rexha’s “I’m a mess.”
Despite the fact that the title and
the actual lyrics are a real downer,
every time I hear that chorus,
it cheers me up.

The second is “Don’t get me wrong,”
by The Pretenders.
I heard this for the very first time
only a few months ago.
I have no idea what it’s about,
but I just really, really like it,
so I chose to use it today.
It’s good to do things that please you.