I was thinking about a way I sometimes deal with extreme psychological pain/distress. I know it's not everyone's method. I know that I am not always capable of succeeding with it, but...I often can. It's all about getting "it out". Purging one's system of the really bad stuff. Even if my situation may not be completely changed afterwards, my perspective on it can be, to a degree. Or the purging of it brings some temporary relief that is much needed. Here's a great quote by an extremely funny lady, most all of us know:

"Laugh. Laugh as much as you can. Laugh until you cry. Cry until you laugh. Keep doing it even if people are passing you on the street saying, 'I can't tell if that person is laughing or crying, but either way they seem crazy, let's walk faster.' Emote. It's okay. It shows you are thinking and feeling." - Ellen DeGeneres

I think a while ago, I posted the content of one of my past blog posts here. It included a couple stories, that at least I found quite funny. I won't post it again, but I'll post the title. It was called "So extremely bad...that's it's amazing!" I guess I thought that perhaps that title (and the subsequent story) has some relation to the quote that Ellen DeGeneres gave us above. The story and the blog's photo featured a most angry looking chicken. Chicken. Gotta love chicken!

Today at my psychiatrist's office, he used the idiom stating that I should "chew my cud" on something. Jokingly, and with exaggerated expression, I said to him "Now, I KNOW you don't actually think I'm a COW!?!?!"

"What's so wrong about cows?!?!" he said.

Really, there is nothing wrong about cows at all. They're nice enough animals, but the mental picture of me looking like a cow chewing my cud couldn't escape my mind.

The truth is, taking a thought (even a really bad or sad one) and chewing it up...processing it...maybe eventually getting something out of it, or not...and then eventually s***ing it out...is good advice.