scalyfreak

Amen. (One of the greatest evils of organized religion is the obsession with forcing bad music onto the masses.)

Um, that's called "work"... and when I go to mine, I get paid

Stay sane: Workout three times per week, minimum. This has not been done. Exhaustion and a lack of time has led to prioritizing other things. I will attempt to remedy this next week, but for the first part of my visit, this has not been high priority. Stay calm: Meditate every day Insight Timer's Sleep category has saved me from jetlag-induced insomnia. Due to the unusual office hours I have arrived back at the hotel right after midnight, and spend the next 90-120 minutes or so unwinding and settling down, with calm music and reading. Then I listen to one of the guided meditations for sleep, and I have no idea how any of them ends, since I tend to fall asleep before they do. Meditation is a sanity saver. Prioritize victory: Victory is defined as finishing this project in a better state of mind than the battle with Stress-Monster left me with last year. This has, so far, been going well. I feel a little sad and awkward at the notion that I have holed up in my hotel room for the almost all of Saturday so far, but I am too tired to do any sightseeing or shopping, and staying well rested must take priority. It makes me a little sad though, but I hope to have time tomorrow to at least visit a nearby shopping mall and a museum. Sadly, I need to put in a few hours of work today and by the time that is done, there will be no time for fun and games.

By its fans, absolutely. By those who tried it and dislike it, it's regarded as a game that is intentionally designed to make it an ordeal to play, far too difficult, ridiculously obscure with whatever story is there, and not worth your time. It's one of those niche games whose fans are loyal to the point of fanaticism, but it's definitely not for everyone. Rent before buying.

Or have any open wounds. Or get it into your eyes. Or get some into your ears. Or... or... or... Bleh and yuck on boil water notices.

You know that's not an "either/or" situation, right...? A lot of those obnoxious children have those obnoxious parents...

I took Harriet's fire spirit approach, combined it with the Dark Souls view on pyromancy... and voila, Flame of Anxiety! Let it burn unchecked and it destroys you. Control it too tightly and it builds up pressure that eventually explodes and destroys you. Or learn to live with it, to direct it and to let it burn without burning wild, and now you can use it and draw strength from it. I like visualizing something similar to the pyromancy animations from these games, where the fire concentrates around the pyromancer's hands and prepares to soar forward and immolate any fool who dares to attack me whatever is going on that is making me anxious.

Late meetings suck. But there is definitely a quiet pride and honor in doing something to the best of our ability, for no other reason than to be able to look back at it and tell ourselves that we did a good job. If someone wants to pay me for the time it took, all the better. Adding to what you and @Raxie have already said about talking to family about mental health issues... what happens in brains happens due to chemical balance or imbalance and how the neurons are wired and interacting. That in turn is controlled by one DNA, and while I can't remember regarding either of you right now, I have two siblings who share a portion of my DNA with me, and they both have children. I tell them about the physical health I have, that I could pass to a child of mine (like my asthma), in case they passed something similar to a child of theirs. As I see it, this applies in full to mental health issues as well - my siblings need to know, so they can help their children with any anxiety they might have.

It is absolutely preferably to being tired! Anxiety is not the enemy. (Title of a short podcast that let to my own thoughts about anxiety as a form of pyromancy.)

...with a near stranger who has no personal stake in the issue whatsoever, except to help you figure things out. You do not recommend work? But then how would I pay for my play time?

The Flame of Anxiety was harnessed for a good cause! I feel completely justified and vindicated in combing through countless Yelp reviews for hours, to try and find out just how strict they were about suitcase weight. Hah! Now, please excuse me while I write an email to my colleagues who travel the exact same route next week, and who might appreciate advance warning that the weight of the carry-on does matter...

That is sooo tempting...! But the majority of people I work with on a daily basis have learned to send me a quick IM and ask if I have time to talk, rather than just coming over without warning.

Of course they are. You are powerful.

What is the time frame on this challenge? I think we are in Week 2 now (I think), is this sitting up part of the mini going on until the end of the week?

In that case, disregard everything I said in my previous post! Ugh, I hate when people do that! Do they not realize that we are trying to work here and we have neither the time nor any desire, to socialize with anyone? And if they stop by to interrupt for work reasons, that is really absolutely no excuse. Momentum takes time to rediscover, once it has been lost to an impromptu visit. I find that wearing obvious headphones and ignoring people the first time they talk to me, works wonders for reducing the amount of interruptions I have to put up with every day.