Every day, my social media and email are bombarded by "panaceas," universal remedies and programs that are supposed to fix every ailment and woe known to man. I'm under an endless solicitation of exercise programs, patches, liquids, potions, pills, and powders that are supposed to make me feel better, live longer, and be healthier.

Last night, I flew into Las Vegas as a presenter at The Performing Hypnosis Summit. Since being diagnosed with Hashimoto's, I have had to cook all of my meals to avoid eating foods that could trigger my inflammation. Currently, foods that trigger my inflammation are gluten, dairy, soy, nightshades (peppers), and refined sugar.

I had to put down our glo betta fish, Macauley, Monday night. Doug and I found him in an abandoned house two years ago, floating around in a dirty little aquarium. Doug was listing the house and was so busy taking pictures that he didn't even notice the aquarium sitting on the kitchen counter. I did, looked in, and saw the sweet little neon yellow guy with big black eyes staring back up at me. I don't know how long he'd been there.

If you've ever heard me say "Make sure you make a deposit in your happiness account," I got this from my friend and mentor Dr. Kenneth L. Rigsby, LCSW, MSW, MEd, EdD. I had about 2 years of wear and tear on my soul between taking care of my mother and my divorce, and this one statement gave me some peace of mind when I needed it most.

I hate when I....

I'm so bad at...

I'm too skinny/too fat...

These are some of the language patterns I hear daily from my clients. They are telling me the words they've repeated to themselves for much of their lives. And they wonder why they're not happy! The problem is that they are only aware of how they talk to themselves once I point it out. In most cases, my clients have grown up in a toxic environment, with those words being repeated over and over. Then those words eventually became a reality!  

2024 is looking amazing! I was selected to teach my Comedy Writing for Stage Hypnotists at the Performing Hypnosis Summit in February. In July, I'll teach my first 3-Day Certification of The Hilarity And Hypnosis Approach (HAHA!). This class is truly the culmination of my life's work as a comedian and a hypnotist.

I saw clients, managed my ever-changing thyroid health scenario, participated in 15-20 community events, and did all the other miscellaneous things that needed to be done with our other business. And I'm not telling you this because I'm bragging about what we did this year.

I'm telling you this because I'm worn out.

Worn. The. F**k. Out.

As a result, my New Year's resolutions are very, very different this year!

When I moved to Paradise Lakes, I heard rumors about retired hypnotist Dr. John Gullo living in the neighborhood. When I became President of the condo association, our paths crossed at the office, and he complimented me on the job I was doing for the association. A few months later, he sent me a few articles he had written about hypnosis

Add my "perfectionist tendencies" to this mix, and now I'm cooking with a recipe for disaster. It's easy to tell myself, "You're never going to learn all that music." "You don't have the piano-playing chops you had in college, what makes you think you can play this now?" "These pieces aren't that hard. Why are you having so much trouble getting them?" "You can sing for comedy, but can you sing seriously?" "Your voice after that thyroid surgery 10 years ago isn't the same.

My to-do list at any given time has 150-200 items. With the holidays approaching, this goes up exponentially! My body needed a break. My husband, Doug, turned on the TV, and we were binge-watching Christmas movies before I knew it. We watched A Christmas Story Christmas (sequel to A Christmas Story with Peter Billingsly), Four Christmases (Vince Vaughan & Reese Witherspoon), and Candy Cane Lane (Eddie Murphy).

Thanksgiving is a holiday that has become synonymous with gratitude. But how did this happen? The tradition of Thanksgiving dates back to the 17th century when the Pilgrims celebrated their first successful harvest in Plymouth. They invited the Native Americans, who had helped them survive their first year, to join them in a feast. This was a time of giving thanks for their blessings, thus setting the stage for Thanksgiving to be associated with gratitude.

I'm in a Master Mind group that meets on Wednesday evenings. I may not actually "master" anything. Still, we discuss many unusual topics in this group that go well beyond hypnosis, hypnotherapy, and language patterns. Currently, we are studying an ancient Chinese system of self-protection that involves a series of hand positions and mudras.