What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
This is garbage. Total garbage. Stop telling yourself total garbage. A witty ad campaign is not a good excuse to make a bad decision.
You might think you can do whatever you want, and your spouse and friends will never know. But your covert deed does not stay “in Vegas.” You are going to stuff it into your baggage, cram it into your overhead compartment and take it home with you.
You know what you did. It will always be in your baggage. It will affect you.
The next time you are at a party and someone jokingly says “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” you will laugh nervously and look around the room wondering what people know and why are they all staring at you.
Every time you think about what you did, you will feel that pang of self loathing, regret or whatever emotion it is you are trying to pretend isn’t there.
You’ve heard the urban legend of the poor soul waking up with a headache and discovering that some tiny insect crawled into their ear and laid thousands of eggs while they were sleeping? The problem grew and grew until his entire head was infested with insects? Your Vegas moment is just like that.
I tell my clients that they can lie to me, and I will believe their lies, but ultimately they are lying to themselves...and they know they are lying.
What happens in Vegas is the ultimate lie you tell yourself. You lie because you are ashamed of what you did. If you were proud of your actions, you wouldn’t keep them a secret.
What happens in Vegas most certainly does not stay in Vegas.
Please don’t take mental health advice from the marketing department of America’s most hedonistic city.
For information on individual counseling, contact me at bradleyjabel@gmail.com
If you are a mental health professional and need creative consultation for your professional literature or Psychology Today profile, contact me at bradleyjabel@gmail.com
