"I'm bad at this game!"

I wanted to share with you a fun epiphany I had yesterday.

I picked up the phrase "I'm/We're bad at this game" from my husband. Whenever he made a mistake (or a few) he would make that announcement. I realized on Friday I had used that remark after a few duplicates were found. Minor mistake, only costing about an hour of work, really nothing but on the second find, I chuckled "We're bad at this game!"

I realized last night that this was actually a fun and light-hearted way to acknowledge a mistake. Games are fun! So being bad at one doesn't matter, as long as you're still having fun. And to bring that idea into life was really helpful for me because I have such a hard time making mistakes (I beat myself up badly over them if I'm not watchful) that I stress so much making decisions or get such bad anxiety over something I'm not 100% sure on doing, that I shut down.

Anyone else have little fun phrases that help them through life?

I have a personal pledge phrase, "I'm on it" - I use it when I am certain I am committed to something, and see no reasonable hindrance. I rarely use it for commitments lasting more than a month - and there in lies its charm, as I know from personal experience of working with me that I can easily keep on top of most kinds of crazy/difficult/boring thoughts, tasks, or decisions for a month. That's what makes it game-like... Only 28 days to go, only 27 days to go... Etc. It's also highly active - I can't sit still when I'm on something!

I advise knowing your limits well before employing this phrase - if I broke a pledge made this way, I feel the phrase would need some significant resuscitation - it would loose it's meaning - but as it stands, I can trust me when I am willing to commit to something in this way. I'll be replying to the e-mails, I'll be visiting that dentist, I'll be keeping that promise...

I very much like "I'm bad at this game" Kit Thank you for sharing!

Whenever I stumble over my own words, I stop, make ridiculous noises with my mouth (often something like, "Ba-di-da-bla-bub!"), take a deep breath, and continue.

I think that's pretty common, but it works, and it seems to meet the criteria.

Twigga wrote: [...] I'll be visiting that dentist, [...]

I don't know why, but I found this particularly funny. Maybe it was the specificity.

(Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog in biology class -- everyone gets bored and the frog dies.)

When I'm really having a difficult time getting my words out, sometimes I'll say, "I love English. It's like a second language to me." #C3P0

I have a mantra of sorts that I use to remind myself every morning and during times where I feel like giving up (during hard time, physically, emotionally, spiritually, ect). "You can do better than this, Jedi." It reminds me that I am better than my present moment, no matter how hard it gets. I know I've been through worse, whatever I'm feeling or going through at the moment is nothing compared to my darkest moments in the past. It didn't end me then, it won't end me now.

My favorite is "I gotchu." It means i'm in your corner, I've got your back, and we can take on the whole world if you gotta. When I say it to myself, it's "I got this."

I'm a fan of sarcasm so when I'm doing something overwhelming, my pep talk will be to say, "Alight now, let's bend at the waist and twist." Then I sort of have that slap-stick humor like visualization of the scenario and it sort of gives that comic relief to where I can handle the problem for what it is. Most of the time they turn out to be much smaller than my mind makes them out to be, so why not get a chuckle at them?

You know that song, "you say toMAYto, and I say toMAHto, you say poTAYto, and I say poTAHto..."?

I don't very often use the phrase, "whatever," because that feels dismissive, but sometimes when people seem to be arguing a silly point of semantics, I will say "toMAYto, poTAHto" instead.

I use "I'm bad at this game" in much the same way. Sometimes, also, "I'm not sure I understand the rules to this game."

My college household said, "It's an adventure!" about any unexpected turn of events. Get lost? Now it's a quest! With my recent cancer diagnosis, I apparently startled the nurse who had the misfortune of giving me the news with my cheerful "it'll be an adventure" attitude. But it will be. I get to have an MRI tomorrow! That's a fresh new experience for me and I'm going to make the most of it. Don't get me wrong: I understand how unpleasant every part of this may be. But I'll handle it better if I focus on the bright spots.