Howdy Friday! Good to see ya!

As this is a blog that is primarily focused on getting healthy, I'm going to lead off each entry with morning weigh in and any thought associated with that (a la Bridget Jones )

And here we go...

Weight: 209.2
Lost .6 pounds since yesterday! Well done me. I also forced myself to try a veggie - a little cherry tomato. I didn't like it, but I did try it. My father and friend Jenn would be so proud.

Excellent day out of the office yesterday- full of positive thinking and inspiration. I love days were I'm lead to be more self aware- mainly because I've learned over time to be humble about what I need improvement on. No sense getting all twisted up in pride over learning that you are guilty of doing things you despise in others. Time to give you (and the others) a break and find a way to:

1. Change it
2. Avoid letting the behavior of others lower your own.

This is a big area of improvement for me. I find it difficult to keep my level of positivity around those who are compelled by something in them to find the negative in just about any situation. I find it tiring and repulsive. My normal reaction is putting a protective distance between me and the person, which normally looks like me ignoring them. Which angers the neggie even more and then turns it on me "What's your problem?" I'm asked. Hmm. Not where I wanted to end up.

So- what to do?

The old Susan would turn on the charm, dance around and try to lift the person up. And sometimes I could, which would benefit both of us. If I can do this relatively effortlessly, then this is my tack.

However, if this person is stubbornly mired in "stinking thinking", it's too much time and energy to do the Susan Show on them. I can't ignore them because that's rude and usually provokes an outburst from them.

What to do?

An old therapist of mine said that it's good to imagine a glass shield in front of yourself at times like these (she was prepping me for attending a family gathering that I didn't want to go to but obviously had to). I like this strategy when I don't have time to come up with anything else and I don't have to do it for too long (think suddenly faced with grumpy-pants for a short period of time). However, if someone in your life is struggling and is finding it hard to pull themselves out of the cranky boat, how do you support their struggle, listen compassionately and not let yourself get sucked down?

I don't know yet. But I'm going to make that my topic for today's "Mini Self Improvement Session" This is where I will take a concept, issue, problem, idea and send it through the normal paces in my mind, journaling as I do it.

Well, 'bout time to get around and get ready for work. Love Fridays. Getting hair done by new stylists tomorrow. Thinking something more edgy - not punkish or anything - just less sedate. Ideas?