I always joked that I should pioneer “I don’t give a $h!T” therapy.
For the purpose of mass consumption, I will scale it back. My heart says stick with “I don’t give a $h!T” but my head says go with “I don’t care.”
So many of our problems stem from the fact that we care too much about things that don’t matter. I was reminded of this recently when my daughter decided to wear her pajamas to the grocery store. How does a 5 year old get away with the things that scare adults?
Because she doesn’t care.
She was excited to wear pajamas. Didn’t give a second of thought to what other people would say. She did what she wanted to do. Good for her.
It helps that she is amazingly adorable (I’m not biased) in pajamas. That doesn’t change the fact that she simply doesn’t care about all the stuff adults burden themselves with.
Pretend for a second that you, an adult, want to wear pajamas to the grocery.
People might look at me.
I don’t care.
People might laugh.
I don’t care.
People might think I’m crazy.
I don’t care.
People might judge me.
I don’t care.
I might see someone I know.
I don’t care.
You get yourself worked into a frenzy caring about all the stuff that doesn’t matter. STOP CARING!
I have to stop here and clarify. My daughter is not engaging in anything illegal, immoral or ethically blurry. If you are considering breaking laws or committing crimes against humanity, I strongly urge you to care.
If you want to do something that makes you happy, isn’t illegal and might be outside “the norm,” do it. Stop caring about the stupid stuff.
Or if it suits you better, don’t give a $h!T.
Do you have questions about a specific situation in your life? Topics you want addressed in future essays? Shoot me an email at bradleyjabel@gmail.com
For information on individual counseling, please contact me at bradleyjabel@gmail.com
I’m an LPC and a writer. If you are a mental health professional and need creative consultation for your professional literature, write to me at bradleyjabel@gmail.com