How Do You Bounce Back?

I'm a good person but sometimes a bad friend.

If you're in a horrible mood and want to stay that way, I'm not your gal. If you want to lick your wounds and you expect me to help, you might want to call another compadre.

I was drinking beer with a friend and her broken heart the other night.

I thought I was doing okay right up until my friend exploded, "You're a terrible person to talk to if you're depressed. All upbeat and positive. Ugh! It's maddening!"

Then she ate an entire bowl of French fries.

I had a burger with blue cheese. A good friend would have eaten half the fries. Instead, I sat there, listening, until she held her stomach and said, "I can't believe I ate that whole bowl. Why didn't you stop me?"

At this point, I jumped in with words like "You'll love again" and "Of course, there's more than one person for everyone out there" (well, I didn't mean it in the "sister wife" way) and I may have said, "We have all loved and lost ... and then loved some more."

She threw down her napkin.

"Argggh! Writers! You're so frustrating to be friends with!"

I probably should have responded with soothing words and a warm hug, but I was busy typing awesome quotes into my phone.

(How else do you think I'm writing this now? From memory? I can't even remember what I'm supposed to get at Costco, or what round of the workout I'm in. We're just lucky I don't try to work out in Costco.)

When we left the joint and she stopped for a cigarette (yup, I actually know one person who still smokes in this world), I stood far away and yelled my answers across the street to her.

"Life sucks sometimes."

"Yes, I really do believe the things I write."

"No, I don't have a pet iguana."

I'm not sure I heard her last question correctly, but I really don't have a pet iguana.

Anyhow, my point is this: we all get our hearts broken and we all recover. It just takes some folks longer to get there, and that's okay.

What helps? You might know what I'm going to say -- it starts with "B" and ends with "L."

Yup. A bagel.

A big, warm, doughy jalapeno-n-cheddar bagel with fluffy whipped cream cheese clouds. Oh, sorry, I think I just drooled a little on the keyboard.

No, really it's not a bagel. I wish it was that easy. Carb Your Way to Emotional Health. God knows we've all tried it

.But, really it's the barbell. The fabulous barbell. Also, the prowler. You know, like I wrote about in my "10 Things To Do When You're Lonely." You could do those things.

Now, tell me this: what's your number one tip for bouncing back when life kicks the snot out of you?