I can’t think about that right now. If I do, I’ll go crazy. I’ll think about that tomorrow. -Scarlett O’Hara

There’s one thing I’m grateful for when times get tough.  It’s my ability to just not think about things.  Seriously.  I know some of my therapy-minded friends are going to tell me that this is a very unhealthy way to think or behave.  Feelings buried or left unaddressed will eat you alive.  Your issues that you swallow will affect you in other ways, whether it be health issues or lead to eternal unhappiness.  You talk it out and get it all worked out in the open.  Well, this may work for some people, but for me, this is not the a cure.  (I want to note that this is in no way invalidating my friends and family who practice or use therapy for themselves.  It has its place for people.)

I have found that my emotions like to be treated much like a flesh wound.  You recognize that it definitely hurts when it happens, shed a tear or two, and then you keep it clean and untouched and let it heal on its own.  You should NEVER pick at the scab, otherwise it scars, becomes very ugly, and doesn’t get better.  Kind of ironic, actually, considering I am the world’s WORST picker and have never had a scab or pimple that I actually let heal on its own, but when it comes to my feelings, this is exactly what I need.  I have found that as I leave my heart alone, and let my feelings figure themselves out, time has passed, things are not as bad as they once seemed, and I am good to go.

Great balls of fire. Don’t bother me anymore, and don’t call me sugar! – Scarlett O’Hara

If there is one thing I hate, emotionally speaking, it is when people want to poke at the open wound or pick at the nearly healed scab.  Just don’t do it.  I will talk to you about it if I want to.  If you have a guilty conscience for something you did to me, that is all on you.  Don’t hurt me more by trying to talk it out.  I really don’t want to.  To be frank, you hurt me the first time.  I don’t owe you the favor of letting you apologize.  Just let me get over it and I’ll talk to you later if I decide.  I’m not saying I will never forgive.  I have a terrible memory.  I will usually forgive, if not completely forget, what you did.  In that way, I’m like a little toddler.  Let me be distracted, and I’ll completely forget that there was an issue.  Bigger issues, I’ll remember, but I will be a lot happier not having them brought to the forefront of my memories and not thinking about them.

Needless to say, there are a lot of things I quite like about Miss Scarlett O’Hara, and times I “fiddle dee dee” my way through life, but this is a big one for Miss CoCo.  Don’t try to make me think about things I don’t want to think about.  By Tara, you’ll be sorry.

You helpless? Heaven help the Yankees if they catch you. -Rhett Butler