The Snoopy Song

I love musicals! One of my favorites is "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown." There are many wonderful songs in this musical that can be used to teach us about how to live well. The Snoopy song is one of the great ones. Snoopy starts out by talking about how wonderful his life is. Pleasant day, pretty sky, life goes on, here I lie, not bad, not bad at all. Cozy home, board and bed, sturdy roof, beneath my head. Not bad, not bad at all."


So Snoopy is feeling well, having a nice time. Then what happens next? He starts to think about unpleasant things, such as birds sitting on him and scratching him with their claws. The next thing you know, he says he is a jungle animal looking for someone to bite!

What happened? Simpy put, he started to think about something in his life that he didn't like. He focused on it for awhile and guess what? He became angry! This is something we do all the time without recognizing it. It is a great example of unheathy thinking. If you want to be emotionally healthy, pay attention to what you think about. If you focus frequently on the parts of your life that you don't like, you will experience unpleaseant emotions such as anger, sadness or depression. The good news is that you are in charge of how you feel. You can change your feelings depending on what you choose to think about. Practice this for awhile and see what happens.


I included the video below so you can see exactly how Snoopy reacts. If you have any comments I would be happy to hear them!

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (1967 Original Off-Broadway Cast)

You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown: A Peanuts Musical [VHS]

"Oliver!" The Musical

In the musical "Oliver!" the Artful Dodger and Nancy and a few others sing a cute song called "I'd Do Anything." It's sweet and light and says things like "I know that I'd go anywhere for your smile, anywhere , for your smile ,everywhere I'd see." Oliver sings" I'd risk everything for one kiss, everything, yes I'd do anything for you." Also, "We'd risk life and limb to keep you in the swim, yes we'd do anything for you." That last part is sung by a group of orphans who steal for a man named Fagin. He asks them if they would risk getting hanged to please him. They predictably answer, 'We'd do anything for you."

So do you the see the danger inherent in the nice, sweet song? Some people actually live their lives following this credo. Don't give up so much of yourself to others that you know longer follow what is important to you.

The Tiki Room Song

I saw quail on my walk this morning. This is not unusual, I see them all the time. I was reminded of my favorite expression about quail which is "Run fast, fly low and always travel in groups." (I made up this favorite expression). What does this have to do with good mental health? Well, people who are depressed stay by themselves too much. They like to isolate themselves away from others. Frequently, depressed people don't have friends, either. So quail always travel together in large groups. I see a covey 15 to 20 quail in my backyard regularly. This is a good example for people. Friends are a good anti-depressant. To take the example further, the quail are always on the lookout for each other. They have each other's backs.

Today's song is the Tiki Room song from Disneyland. In case you don't know, the Tiki Room is filled with many groups of singing birds and flowers. They are all together having a good time. There are 4 parrots who are the main characters and they are friends. Here's the song. I really like it. I annoy my family when I sing it.

"In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room

In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room

Where the birds sing words and the flowers croon,

In the Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Room "

Go to http://davelandweb.com/tikiroom/ to see some pictures of the Tiki Room.
Go to http://www.wdisneyw.co.uk/sounds.html to hear the Tiki Room song. The MP3 player version is the best one on this site.

"Ain't Got No Troubles"

I was listening to NPR and heard a song called "Ain't Got No Troubles" by Eden Brent. You can go to NPR.org and listen to it. This is the kind of song we need to be singing every day. It isn't true, of course, that we have no troubles, but you have to put your mind in the right place if you want to be emotionally healthy. Most of us think in very unhealthy ways. We jump to conclusions, think in very rigid ways or blame ourselves or others erroneously. If you want to be healthy you have to start to notice when you think in these ways and change your thoughts. This is not an original idea. Mark Twain said, "There has been much tragedy in my life; at least half of it actually happened." This means to me that we create tragedy in our minds by how we perceive life events. If you change your perception, you change your feelings and subsequent actions. "Oscar Wilde said "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars." Look at the stars.

Desperate Housewives: Will He Ever Change?

Tonight I am doing a seminar titled "Desperate Housewives: Will He Ever Change?" The short answer is, "Only if he wants to." This is true about any of us. If we see a need to change and want to, we will. Don't try to make someone change if they don't think they have a problem. And please don't nag. That never works. It is better to focus on making yourself happy then on trying to make someone make you happy.

He's just not that into you.

Have you seen the movie "He's just not that into you?" I haven't, but I read about it in the Oprah magazine. I thought that the psychologist who was quoted (Judith Sills) had a good point. She said "When you've clearly signaled your interest (in a man) and he doesn't pursue" it is time to give up going after him. And she added "believe me, it's sooner than you think."

Take this to heart. Don't keep hoping a man will finally see the light and decide that you are the one. Invest a little time in a relationship, see if there is any spark and get out quickly if there isn't. There are lots of men out there. Don't waste your time trying to make one like you. You deserve better.

potato, potahto, "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"

Do you know the song "Let's call the whole thing off" by George and Ira Gershwin?

"You like potato, I like potahto
You like tomato, I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, tomato, tomahto
Let's call the whole thing off."

In this song a couple is arguing about how to pronounce words. This argument is apparently so serious that they are going to break up! This is a great example of all or nothing thinking and a lack of flexiblility. Please only argue about important things. I talk to couples who argue about how to load the dishwasher or what is the best laundry detergent to buy. These arguments cause real problems.

Try to focus on what is really important. Remember, do you want to be married or do you want to be right?