Dissapointing affirmation anyone?

having fun is taking care of your ~mental.health

I've never heard it phrased like that, but I have to agree!

I will add that while "fun" is highly subjective, I find it most meaningful when you introduce a combination of (non-harmful) stimuli. As an example, while playing a video game alone can be an enjoyable experience, playing with a friend (even if they're just "backseating" and not actively playing) can be more fulfilling. (Conversely, this specific example could actually be stressful and detract from the fun for some people, or even people who would enjoy it but are in a mental state where they don't want to.)

One bit of fun I take in almost daily - a family member has come up with a recurring Christmas gift for me - a desk calendar. The ones I enjoy most contain comics. One year it was Strange Planet, this year is They Can Talk. Some days, the comics are something I know they would laugh at too, so I text them a picture of it. I'm sure this creates a positive feedback loop for them as well, receiving confirmation that I enjoy that gift a lot.

I agree that there's such a thing as 'toxic positivity' although reading more than a few of these is a buzzkill. Anyway here is mine.

'You have a black belt in handling emotional abuse. You are the champion of wallowing in your own stress.'

Oh my, I so love it! Also, they weirdly encouraging?

It's reassuring! Things kinda suck, they will continue to suck in the future—might be better, might be worse, it'll be fine. I've been accused of being a real debbie downer, but eeyore isn't wrong or even mopey, he's just realistic, and if we were all winnie the pooh it would be completely exhausting & no one would get anything done. It makes it easier to handle the highs and the lows, imo.

Thank you, I needed this laugh today. Having fun is taking care of yourself, you're refilling your mental bucket with joy.

ROFL these are fantastic. I'll write a longer response and hopefully come up with some funny ones like these too. My favourite ones are the more positive ones, like "take a moment to be grateful.....okay now back to hating everyone". Some of them feel a little too harsh on oneself still, for my taste. I find it cathartic to think poorly of the world at large while thinking the better of individual people in particular (and the best of myself...) so this is right up my alley haha!

Incidentally I didn't get a notification from the @ - how does it work? I love being mentioned, thanks for the ping.

Short answer my friend went for the application and was promptly turned away by the intake person who was mean and unhelpful. But I looked at it together with them a bit and another friend gave me more info to pass on to my friend about how to navigate these kinds of government hurdles. I don't think my friend will be ready to try again for a long time, it was very hurtful. But I got a lot more info to help them if they decide to try again eventually.