I had just entered the second trimester of a rather stressful pregnancy and was put on modified home bed rest (aka - couch rest). I went from running three miles every morning and spending long days at the office to spending nintety percent of my time in bed or laying on the couch and wearing pajamas and sweats all day. I was in a funk, and rightfully so if I do say so myself. What can you do stuck on the couch? Was I doing anything at all? Was I even participating in life? I made a list of what I already accomplished that day because I have a personality for which lists are therapeutic: 1 - I breathed. Yeah … did that. 2 - I put on a t-shirt in place of my long-sleeved pj top (I had pregnant-lady heat stroke). 3 - I watched TV. 4 - I talked (to my spider friend), 5 - texted (my Mum), 6 - checked Facebook (who else is having problems today? Is there a mind-numbing quiz I can do to kill 5 minutes?), drank water, and ate lunch (gotta feed and water the tiny human growing in there) … and on and on my list grew. I realized I did actually accomplish things during the day. I participated in life. I existed. My remaining time on the couch ended up not being that bad. And yes, I was on couch rest until the day the tiny human got evicted. Don’t we all have times like this? Days where you’re just in a funk and don’t feel like doing anything? Eventually, though, we all have to join the world again and participate. We all exist even when we don’t feel like it. This list, as well as my lists for 700+ Verbal Emojis and 1000+ Still Useful words, are proof. While a therapeutic tool for me, and certainly valuable as such, 500+ Happenings to Prove Existence is also great tool for roadblocked writers, advertising professionals, or people who have lost their words such as Alzheimer’s patients or those on the Autism scale. Whether you’re a counselor, an educator, a writer, or just … existing … I hope you’ll find, through this list, the ways in which your patients, your students, your characters, and YOU can participate in this little experimental play on words, as well as this little experiment we call LIFE.
