A Year of Doing the Opposite, like George Costanza on Seinfeld

For this year, I will do the opposite of whatever I normally do, like George Costanza on Seinfeld. The Opposite will be my guide to getting unstuck, so watch me get out of my house, go on a hike, and not worry about the ticks. See me with my mouth closed when someone talks about their "sadness" and "depression," rather than jumping in and commiserating. I will focus only on their wonderful life and join the party! Wow, I'm exhausted already.

Repeat today's mantra: I have a pretty darn good life.

Hello, Gorgeous!

Today I gave up my addiction. No, it's not to crack, cigarettes or Oxycontin. It's to something far nastier and addictive -- victimhood.

A few weeks ago, while I prattled on at brunch, recounting how a boss done me wrong, a friend asked, "Are you always the victim?"

Stung, I waved him away and laughed. "No," I said, "it's just - " and before I could continue, I realized that it was true. I was about to offer another excuse, one about how I had been wronged. How I was always wronged by the world.

In comedy, the jokester studies for the wrong test, loses his job, coughs up a hair ball and misses the love of his life. The world thwarts the comedian's every desire, and he looks at the world as though it is a glass half-empty.

That was me. Alwyas forgetting that my life was pretty darn good. Notice that word "pretty" -- I did not say, "Ugly darn good." So, while my book, Beyond Beautiful: A Memoir About Growing Up Ugly, is about an ugly, victimized childhood, this blog is my attempt to finally put on rose-colored glasses and see the world as it is -- a pretty darn good place. And so I extend a hearty welcome to you who stumbled here, next to me. We'll wrestle out our own bit of happiness.