The perspective shield

Whenever I’m feeling sad, depressed, angry, resentful, or stressed, I have found the following tricks really work.

  1. Look at the stars. It reminds me that the universe is so vast and what’s happening here on our little blue dot is really quite insignificant in the grand scheme of it all. Not only are we all going to eventually die, but the Earth is going to eventually be swallowed up by the sun. So let’s be happy while we’re alive, because someday everything will be gone, lost, and forgotten. For all of us.
  2. Remember that nothing is ever as bad (or as good) as it seems. The truth is usually somewhere in between.
  3. Ask yourself: Will this matter in 1 week? 1 month? 1 year? 5 years?

Perspective is everything. Feeling stressed about things not going well at work or at home? Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is going through something unimaginably worse than what you’re going through.

Whatever you’re going through will start to seem trivial in comparison. For me, this works as a sort of “perspective shield,” as I like to call it.

And lately I’ve been working on making sure I equip my shield daily.

The result?

Well, Britt (my wife) says I seem noticeably happier and more positive. And I feel it, too. So far, so good.

Try on the perspective shield and see if you can train your brain to equip it every day. I’m still working on it, but so far I like the results.

How I got my back, neck & shoulder pain under control

Since about 2008, I remember dealing with back, neck, and shoulder pain. Here’s what worked for me.

  1. Stay active throughout the day &  go on daily walks. I aim for 10k steps every day.
  2. Use a standing desk and alternate between sitting and standing a few times throughout the work day.
  3. Daily yoga — these 3 videos in particular. I try to do the first one daily, and it REALLY helps.

4. I use a tennis ball to roll out my shoulder — the top AND the front. The top is kinda hard to get to.

5. I use this foam roller to roll out my IT bands every day.

6. I use this massager and apply it directly to my neck for 10-15 minutes a day. This REALLY works.

Welcome!

Hi, and thanks for visiting! This blog is for me to write about whatever I want, really 😉

Right now, I think I’ll use it for discussing how I solved various problems throughout my life. So, hopefully someone finds it useful.