The other thing I try is asking myself "Am I safe IN THIS MOMENT?" The answer is usually yes and it allows me to focus on being present where I am right now instead of constantly worrying about the past/future. And it also helps me appreciate that I have a roof over my head, food in my belly, and the basics, which I tend to take for granted too often.
I used to have to tell myself that in college, when I would obsess about my mounting loan debt and pittance of income and whether it would hurt my studies to work more, etc., etc. (I have ALWAYS spent too much time worrying about things that haven't actually happened.)
I used to just tell myself, okay, I'm enrolled for the semester, tuition and room and board are paid, so I'm good for the next X months. Get there, and see what happens next.
I'm trying to do that now, but man, there are so many more things-that-haven't-yet-happened these days than there were in college. Or, at least, I'm aware of more.
(Also, Tim discovered a leak from the shower in the basement this morning. I wish I were joking.)
I've done the unemployment + freelance thing and it was the most financially stressful time period of my life. Knowing the money was coming EVENTUALLY was not comforting in the least when the bills were due NOW. (And a big reason why I'm sticking with my totally-unsatisfying-but-at-least-I-get-paid-on-time office gig for the foreseeable future. I really admire people who can do freelance/contract work - I'm just not emotionally cut out for it. Selling out to the man was ultimately very relaxing for me.)
Sean, would it make you feel better if I mailed you some BSG DVDs yesterday? Because I totally got off my ass and did that! Only a month after I said I would!
Money troubles are, IMO, the most stressful/depressing kind. The time in my life when I was unemployed and couldn't pay any of my bills and felt like I had nowhere to turn was the most depressing time in my life, and I'm comparing that to some pretty depressing times: taking care of both of my parents when they were dying at a young age and planning their funerals, finding out I had epilepsy and giving up driving, ETC.
So what I'm saying is, I really feel for you, and I hope things start looking up soon.
Yay! BSG DVDs!
You take the little things.
Does anyone know anything about lithium orotate?
This is not nice, but it is hilarious: [link]
OUTRAGE OVER PLANS TO BUILD LIBRARY NEXT TO SARAH PALIN
PLANS to build a state-of-the-art library next to Republican catastrophe Sarah Palin are causing outrage across mainstream America.
Campaigners have described the project as insensitive and a deliberate act of provocation by people with brains.
The issue is forming a dividing line in advance of November's mid-term congressional elections with candidates being forced to declare whether they have ever been to a library or spoken to someone who has books in their home.
Meanwhile President Obama has caused unease within his own Democratic party by endorsing the library and claiming that not everyone who reads books is responsible for calling Mrs Palin a fuckwit nutjob nightmare of a human being.
But Bill McKay, a leading member of the right-wing Teapot movement, said: "Sarah Palin is a hallowed place for Americans who can't read.
And then some days aren't so bad.
My unemployment check just showed up in today's mail.
"Stabbing rude jerk, kicking asshat in face, punching guy in elevator on cellphone."
We should chip in to hire Isaiah Mustafa to say that for you.
My unemployment check just showed up in today's mail.
Whew, relief. I'm glad, Sean.
