Why Has Nobody Ever Told Me This Before?

That’s the title of a book by Dr. Julie Smith.

I read it a while back and think it’s packed with great ideas. I’m dealing with something now so am reviewing what she suggests.

Here is Perplexity’s summary, with the footnotes taken out.:

Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr. Julie Smith is a highly practical and accessible guide to maintaining and improving mental health. Drawing on a decade of experience as a clinical psychologist, Dr. Smith distills the key strategies and insights she typically shares with clients. The book tackles everyday challenges such as anxiety, depression, grief, motivation, stress, and self-doubt—providing actionable tools for coping and building resilience.

Key themes and takeaways from the book include:

Mental health maintenance: The book emphasizes that nurturing your mental health is as crucial as caring for your physical health. Dr. Smith encourages treating the mind like a muscle that benefits from daily care and attention.

Practical tools and exercises: Structured in modular sections, the book offers short chapters focused on topics like low mood, motivation, fear, grief, self-confidence, and criticism. Each section provides practical advice, such as journaling to challenge negative thoughts, using [breathing techniques] for anxiety, and making “good enough” decisions to break out of low-mood cycles.

Emotional awareness and needs: Dr. Smith teaches that emotions often signal unmet needs, and better emotional health starts with identifying and meeting those needs.

Accessibility: Written for a wide audience—students, parents, stressed professionals, and anyone seeking mental wellbeing—the book serves as a toolkit that democratizes access to psychological insights and self-care practices.

Evidence-based approach: The writing is concise and grounded in the latest psychological research, with examples, prompts, and exercises designed to encourage self-reflection and action rather than passive reading.

If you’re looking for an uplifting, actionable manual to help weather life’s emotional storms, develop resilience, or just better understand your mind, this book is widely recommended and described as “therapy 101”—filled with practical wisdom and tools for everyday life.

If you prefer videos, here is a good summary. There is a short advertisement in the middle.

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He Has His Priorities Straight!

What do you think?

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You Just Can’t Predict

A blogger I follow thought he would be smart this summer, so he went to northern Finland to escape the heat. Instead he reported being miserable with mosquito bites and the hot, humid weather. The hot spell was unusual, which meant there was no air conditioning, of course. (I just checked the temperature now, it’s still humid but the temperature highs have dropped to the 60s F.)

You just can’t predict. Except for the mosquitoes?

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Why There’s No Water on Mars

I can relate to that!

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Toto Is Still a Curious Kitten

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800 Days!

Still plugging along. I also read a couple of comics in Spanish from time to time:

Pig: I’ve been on long walks and I’m not losing weight.
So I’m thinking about giving up and just sitting on my butt. But I’m not sure I should.

Nike sign: Just do it.

Pig: Thanks, Nike.

I love the following one because of the expressions on Snoopy’s face. Click on the picture for higher resolution.

Olivier, the bird in the sleeping bag, couldn’t keep up with Snoopy’s troop. When he gets left behind Marcie thinks she has found a new species of worm, but Snoopy comes and takes the bird back to the troop.

For me it has to be fun, not work.

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Another Problem With Some Pets?

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This Reminds Me of Zoe

This reminds me of Zoe. She’s a lively, vocal pup. Tempi describes how Zoe reacted when they were driving to the Supercharger and saw this turkey in the road.

Screenshot

Zoe went wild and Torben had to hold on to her leash to keep her from jumping out the window. (She was riding shotgun and had managed to roll down the window?) Anyway the turkey moved on and things settled down.

Until they were on their way home and Kaitlin warned Torben there were turkeys in their yard:

Torben did the prudent thing and drove around until the turkeys were gone. Hurray for cellphones!

This was a much shorter story than the one a few days ago when Zoe managed to crawl under the fence to run after a deer. Tempi describes that chaos here.

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Tempi’s Not the Only One

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The Resolution of This Video…

isn’t very good, but the pup reminds me of Tempi. (Click on link or picture.)


She left the humans she came with to sit at another table.

I’ll ask Kaitlin and Torben what they think.

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