Monday, May 15, 2006

You are what you think......now I'm worried!

Today was one of those days when I got to actually have lunch with people I like! Unfortunately I've fallen into this habit of taking people to lunch when I don't really want to go anywhere with them but I have to see them for some reason or other......this has done nothing for my digestion!

Anyway today I had lunch with Beth, a great friend, AND someone who I know will make me laugh out loud at least once during lunch....it feels so good to laugh and she can make anything funny...what a great quality..... thanks Beth, I needed that!

On to today's musings....

While trying to wake up this morning I had quite the conversation with myself about going out to exercise....it was a long process but the "Good Helen" finally won out and kicked the "Bad Helen" out of bed. All the way to the garage I was laughing about how often I have these conversations with myself. Every morning it's the same conversation and every morning the outcome is the same but the script continues.....

I've also noticed that if I walk to the mailbox to get the mail I automatically count my steps (it's 900 roundtrip....only 11 trips a day and I get in my 10,000 steps to good health!) Oddly enough even if I get distracted my subconscious is still counting!!! Really! Sometimes I'm thinking about something totally different and....."I wonder if I resubscribed to Better Homes and Gardens Magazine I don't remember getting one for a........97, 98, 99, ....while", "Maybe we'll have sunshine tomorrow it sure is ........547, 548, 549, 550,........ gloomy!" I know that's wierd but it just happens, sort of, automatically...... the side benefit is that it saves me from looking for the pedometer I bought but can never find when I need it.

When I fold the laundry I mentally count the number of items of each color .....4, no 5 black, 3 green, 2 pink .......no ONE pink and one maroon. I never do it when I sort, or put away, only when I fold. I am seriously wierded out by this and haven't ever admitted it to anyone but you....I have no idea where this started and I only hope I can keep the voices inside my head ......I worry constantly about what I'll be like as an Alzheimer's patient....

Then there's that really annoying habit of spelling backwards. If anyone ever asks me to spell a word I spell it, but then in my secret "inside" voice, I have to "re-spell" it backwards.....I can only assume this behavior comes from competition with my dad as I was growing up. He could spell backwards as fast as he could spell forwards.....it drove me crazy as I could NEVER beat him at it.

Most of my little "running thoughts" revolve around counting though, ....... the swipes of the windshield wipers, the revolutions of the eliptical machine ...divided into revolutions per minute, the number of trees planted in a row (while driving the tractor).....you know the normal stuff.


Am I crazy (probably) ....... 212, 213, 214......or just "mentally exercised?"

2 comments:

Gabriela said...

I am an avid counter as well. Not so much with the backward spelling! I have a hard enough time spelling forwards.

Sarah said...

I count the stairs in my house everytime I go up, which has been beneficial if all the lights are off! There are two sets of eight stairs, with a landing in the middle!