Daily Dirt: Well, apparently I am ’emotionally resilient’

Daily Dirt for Monday, Aug. 14, 2023

Today’s effort is simply chock full of goodies. I hope you enjoy … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 696 of The Daily Dirt.

1. I recently came across an interesting account from Harvard-trained psychologist Cortney Warren. (Before we continue, let me note I found this totally by accident. I’m not not normally looking for stories by or about Harvard-trained psychologists.)

“Emotionally resilient people are deliberate in their response to painful experiences,” Warren wrote. “They allow themselves to grieve, remind themselves of what they are grateful for, and focus on what they can control in the moment.”

Warren expanded on this thought by saying if you use any of the following phrases you are likely more emotionally resilient than most:

• “I can get through this.”
• “I’m not going to let myself be a victim.”
• “Life is hard.”
• “This, too, shall pass.”
• “What can I learn from this?”
• “I need some time.”
• “I still have things to be grateful for.”
• “It is what it is.”
• “I’m letting this go.”

On the other hand, here are seven phrases you are likely to hear from a highly insecure person, according to Stephen Falk, an internationally recognized executive coach and psychology expert.

“The most important thing you can do is to develop a sense of compassion for your insecure colleagues,” Falk writes. “Having dark, negative thoughts about them won’t get you anywhere. Find a balance between being supportive and exercising tough love.”

Falk says to keep an eye for phrases like the following:

• “I don’t have time for this. My other priorities are more important.”
• “I’ve already tried this (or something similar), but it didn’t work.”
• “This is just another way for management to cut jobs.”
• “This is a stupid idea. Everything is working fine as it is.”
• “This might work for others, but it’s not for me.”
• “Can’t we think of something else? I’m not feeling this.”
• “It’s obvious that whoever came up with this idea is clueless about the complexity of my work.”

After reading the above, I will officially classify myself as “emotionally resilient.”

2. Remember the 1970s sitcom “Mork and Mindy”? (That, by the way, was one of my all-time favorites, but that’s another story for another day … )

When Mork originally appeared, his red “space suit” might have looked a bit familiar to anyone watching who had been a fan of the original “Star Trek” series. One of the “Mork and Mindy” wardrobe people had simply grabbed a red spacesuit from the Paramount wardrobe collection for Mork (Robin Williams) to wear. The uniform had appeared in the 1969 “Star Trek” episode entitled “The Savage Curtain.”

3. Fun fact: The person who invented the stop sign, the pedestrian crosswalk, the traffic circle, the one-way street, the taxi stand and pedestrian safety islands was an American businessman named William Phelps Eno.  Ironically, Eno, who lived in New York City, never learned how to drive. He died at age 87 in 1945.

Steve Thought O’ The Day
Studies show cows produce more milk when spoken to, so it’s a case of in one ear and out the udder. 

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Has he decided to start his own Dad Jokes section with the Thought O’ the Day?