30 YEARS AGO
Editor’s Note: This letter was written and mailed to the Clinton Daily News before Toby Keith’s death Monday, Feb. 5, 2024.
ASK THE DOCTORS
DEAR HARRIETTE: I often find myself procrastinating, and the adrenaline rush of completing tasks under pressure, while effective, leaves me with lingering stress. The cycle is taking a toll on my overall well-being. What strategies or techniques can you recommend to help me break this pattern, overcome procrastination and manage the stress associated with last-minute tasks? — No More Procrastinating DEAR NO MORE PROCRASTINATING: Making a plan and implementing it can be the antidote for procrastination. Notice that it is a two-step process. Why? Planners can dream up things to do for days, weeks, even years on end, but implementation is key to success. I believe in coming up with ideas for what needs to be done and writing them down. You can start with big ideas. Just remember to break them down into small-enough steps that they can be manageable. I talk about this a lot, but you can set yourself up for success by giving yourself small tasks that you can accomplish in a limited amount of time. When you check off that you have completed a task, it gives you a sense of accomplishment and more energy to move onto the next task. That's why written lists are so great. You can see what you have promised yourself you will do and what the outcome is.
Dear Doctors: Is there anything new on long COVID? I have it, and it hijacked my life. I get tired really easily, can’t exercise like I used to and my heart often beats too fast. The worst part is the brain fog, which affects my work. Is there any progress on a treatment or on determining what causes it?
DEAR HARRIETTE: Having unexpectedly inherited a significant sum of money, I had intentions of assisting my siblings financially. However, their apparent sense of entitlement and subtle guilt-tripping have made dealing with this situation more challenging than anticipated.
Joe Biden is supposed to know something about legislating. After all, he spent 36 years in the U.S. Senate. He must have learned something in those decades. And yet Biden is the driving force behind one of the biggest Capitol Hill fiascos in years: the rapidly imploding “deal” on the U.S.-Mexico border, plus aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. It was Biden who insisted that those disparate subjects be linked — he threatened to veto any part that was passed alone — which turned out to be a fatal mistake given the impossibility of a majority in Congress agreeing on any immigration-related topic. Failing to agree on immigration guaranteed failure on the other policies.
One interesting aspect of writing a newspaper column is reader letters and emails. Lately, mine have been more supportive and friendly than not. I usually try to respond, although I've fallen down on the job of late. So, if you've sent me a fan letter and haven't heard back, my apologies. I do read them all. Especially the ones from people who are fond of cows.
Maybe now is the moment to buck every indicator in American politics. Maybe, as the presidential campaign moves into South Carolina, which four years ago upended every assumption of every political professional, it is time to reconsider the conventional wisdom.
Dear Doctors: I am a 76-year-old woman not prone to nosebleeds. However, I recently started having heavy ones.