Category — Microblog Mondays

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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I can’t find the blog post right now, but I once wrote that I wanted my eulogy to be, “she was nice.”  I thought that if I could live a life where people walked away saying, “she was nice,” it would have been a life well-lived.  I’m not aiming for brilliant or world-changing or important.  Just nice.

Which is why I was taken aback by Psychology Today’s piece about the dangers of being nice.  Dangers?  How can there be dangers to niceness?  There are dangers to being a pushover or a martyr.  But niceness, in and of itself, doesn’t have dangers, or as Psychology Today puts it: “There are often psychological dangers lurking below that friendly surface, a downside that can take its toll.”

Gulp.

At the end of the long list of problems and advice, the writer asks: “So, are you ready to give up some of your niceness?”  But the answer is no.  I still strive to have people say, “she was nice.”  We can use more nice in the world.

Do you aim to be nice?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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It’s that time of year when whatever we struggle with comes to a head.  Blame it on the presentation of the unattainable, perfect life.  Blame it on unrealistic movies, commercials, and social media feeds.  Blame it on the fact that we get sucked in even when we know it’s as fake as snow at Disney World.

If you’re feeling completely down about a problem you’ve been chipping away at forever, psychologists have found the secret to getting motivated again: give advice to someone who is struggling with the same problem.  It’s a really brilliant study, pointing out that people who are dealing with the problem are experts on the problem.

The post points out: “If you’re completely clueless about the resources or strategies necessary for progress, asking for help is probably the best first step. But if you (like most of us), know what you need to do, but are having trouble actually doing it, giving someone advice may be the push you need.”

So what advice do you have to give?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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While we’re on the topic of other places (at least, we were yesterday), I was cracking up over this Business Insider post of 24 things that are normal in the US but weird to the rest of the world.

There are some that I find weird, too.  Why is our money all one colour?  But a chunk of the other ones didn’t seem (1) unique to the US or (2) something widespread in the US.

We’ve tipped in every country we’ve ever visited.  Not as Americans acting American, but because there was a note on the receipt about leaving a tip.  That’s what bathroom stalls have looked like in many public places around the world.  And enormous portions have been the norm every place I’ve traveled — from hole-in-the-wall restaurants in small towns in the Middle East to restaurants in European capital cities.  On the other hand, while I’ve certainly seen Solo cups used at parties, it’s more plastic cups in general.  People are happy to use blue ones or clear ones or red ones.  I’m not sure where they only use red Solo cups in the US.

But the ice thing.  Yeah, we love our ice.

What do you think of the list?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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My friend just told me about a game: Kill Dr. Lucky.  It’s like Clue except instead of trying to figure out whether Mrs. Peacock used the candlesticks in the library, you’re trying to commit the murder.  As is everyone else at the table AND not get caught.  So you try to get Dr. Lucky alone and kill him off with one of the weapons you collect along the way before anyone else can do the same.

That sounded really dark once I wrote it out.

I love board games.  I hate trying to teach myself new ones from an explanation sheet, so I keep going back to the ones I know well: Yahtzee, Mahjongg, Backgammon, Chess, Sorry, and Monopoly.  I need to find people to teach me the rules to new games in real time.  There’s a board game cafe nearby, and if they’re not busy, the staff will sit down at your table and teach you new games.

Which games are your favourites?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.

Not sure what #MicroblogMondays is? Read the inaugural post which explains the idea and how you can participate too.

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Being totally immodest: My ability to get stuff done is one of my best traits.  If I tell you that you will have a document on Thursday, I will likely have it to you on Tuesday.  You will not need to send me a reminder.  In twelve years of being a freelance writer, I have never missed a deadline.

I have great sitzfleisch.

At least, I thought I had great sitzfleisch because I am able to put my bum in a chair and get to work.  But I just read the other meaning for the word on the BBC:

It can also mean, in some cases, that one simply sits still and waits for a difficult situation to resolve itself. In that scenario, it’s still about endurance but rather the endurance to sit tight than the endurance to push through with hard work.

That is not me at all.  I do not have the endurance to wait, sit tight, or not nudge.  When I’m waiting for an answer or something to happen, I may not externally let the deciding party know that I’m fretting, but, believe me, I am Googling, journaling, or worrying as if it were my second job.

Are you someone who likes to move things along or wait and see what happens?

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Are you also doing #MicroblogMondays? Add your link below. The list will be open until Tuesday morning. Link to the post itself, not your blog URL. (Don’t know what that means? Please read the three rules on this post to understand the difference between a permalink to a post and a blog’s main URL.) Only personal blogs can be added to the list. I will remove any posts that are connected to businesses or are sponsored post.