Howdy, folks. I haven’t a lot to say this week, but I wanted to talk a little about mental health. I noticed recently that I tend to mutter negative things about myself under my breath. Little things in the vein of “oh, you idiot” if I made a small mistake. I found that I was even doing this if, in addition to the mistake being inconsequential, other things in my day were going fine. I wasn’t working out frustration over a hangover or a bad day at work or a rude interaction I might have had, it was just something I did when I felt it was “necessary.” Needless to say, calling myself an idiot did not actually stop me from making mistakes of any size, or materially improve my outlook.

Once I noticed I was doing this, I noticed a lot of other negative thoughts were a regular part of my day. Normal morning grogginess on a rainy day would become “you don’t feel good because you didn’t get enough sleep because you suck!” I don’t suck, at least not as much as grumpy internal monologue Dave would have me believe, and I am trying to reframe my attempts at self-improvement as an upward trajectory where I emphasize effort and any success I find along the way rather than repeatedly dressing myself down for any failure, perceived or actual. Being hard on myself didn’t work, it was merely another obstacle placed between me and success. In just a few weeks this has led to a pretty dramatic improvement in my mood, and it turns out I can take steps to improve myself without also yelling at myself about it. I thought I would share in case my experience might be helpful to anyone out there. Be kind to yourselves, ‘Cados, we’re all just doing the best we can.

Be sure to get your shots, new covid boosters and flu shots are available now. Grab ahold of a mod at avocadomods@gmail.com, don’t threaten anyone, and enjoy the weekend.