Most people know that my favorite book and movie of all time is Gone With the Wind. I love Scarlett O'Hara. I know, I know... she does some pretty crappy things, but she really does what she needs to do to survive, and her strength helps save others as well (Melanie... Beau... her sisters, even though SueEllen is awful). She is also the original master of Resting Bitch Face, side eye and "if looks could kill". Don't even get me started on how fabulous her wardrobe is... especially her famous red dress. I remember the first time I heard about the movie. We were on a family trip to Myrtle Beach around Thanksgiving and in one room, my dad was watching football and in the other room my mom and sisters were watching Gone With the Wind. I had no idea what the movie was about but I remember going into the room right at the part where the doctor has to amputate a Confederate soldier's leg with no anesthesia. My mom told me how much of a classic the movie was and a little while later, I eventually watched the whole thing and I was hooked.
The other week it came to my attention that 2 of my golfers never saw GWTW so of course that gave me an excuse to watch it. Since the run time is 4 hours, they came over and spent the day with me on Father's Day knowing that it would be a tough day for me. As I was watching (and quoting) the movie, some of the famous lines stuck out to me...
"I'll think about that tomorrow" and "Tomorrow is another day"
I first of all want to say that I don't want this to come across that I think procrastination is a good thing. However, sometimes with my anxiety, I get focused on all the things I need or want to do and I think that everything must be done right this second. That mindset then gets me even more worked up because I try to figure out how to get everything done when sometimes that isn't possible. There will be times in all of our lives when we have a list of things that need to get done right away and we have to figure out how to do it- there is no way around that. But think about some of the times where you've been really stressed out trying to do it all, or think about everything that is going on in your life and your family's life. Does it all HAVE to be done or thought about right this minute? Will stressing about it now be beneficial to you? Can it be put off until tomorrow or until you are in a better place mentally?
For me, I can definitely put off thinking about some of the things I get worked up about. I know there are different times of the day that I might be sharper or more equipped to think about certain things. An example would be at work- especially when I used to have to work tax seasons. After a 10-12 hour day of working on tax returns, it probably wasn't a good idea for me to pick up a return that had problems or questions. I know there were times where I wasted many minutes or hours stressed out and then the next morning I looked at it when I had rest and some time to step away - the solution came to me quickly. That would have been one of the times where I could have quoted my dear Scarlett and said "I can't think about that now... I'll think about that tomorrow."
Another example is when I was in the hospital in the psych unit. I knew I had to be there a minimum of 5 days, but on day 2, I already found myself thinking, "what will I do when I go home?", "do I need to find a new job?", "will I be able to live by myself?". All of those question couldn't be answered right at that moment, and all of the potential scenarios I went over in my head in regards to those questions never played out. So I essentially wasted all of that time thinking about things that I had no control over and weren't as big of a deal as I thought they were.
This also reminds me of some verses in the Bible when Jesus says:
"Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" Matthew 6:27
and
" Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34
I know most of us will probably never be able to stop worrying completely, but next time you find yourself overwhelmed with planning and thinking about endless possible scenarios that may or may not happen, give your mind a break and say I'll think about that tomorrow... after all, tomorrow is another day."
Cue GWTW ending music
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