A Lesson from Scarlett O'Hara

Although the heroine of "Gone With the Wind" is not someone to idealize and aspire to emulate as a whole, nonetheless, she had several redeeming qualities that we can admire and emulate in part.

In particular, to me at least, the best thing she ever came off with is "I'll think about that tomorrow." (Of course, "tomorrow" was always in the future, with the result that the problem eventually disappeared.)

This attitude did not make her a procrastinator. Instead, it gave her time to think with a clear head and not make bad decisions while under emotional duress.

In other words, I believe her posture was such that, if she were to try to deal with the issue at hand at the time of an emotional peak, it was her way of protecting her psyche.

And this can work for anyone. For instance, as a property manager, many times I have to face unpleasant confrontations with tenants, which I do not enjoy. But I've found that, rather than allowing myself to stew over the matter with uneasy anticipation, if I just make up my mind to "think about it tomorrow," many times the issue just seems to evaporate and solve itself.

Someone one said that "most of the worries I've had in life didn't happen." And the Bible says that the "evil of the day is sufficient thereof," which is another way of saying that we have enough on our plates today without trying to deal with future problems that may not even exist when we get there.

Then, too, isn't that just another way of saying, "Let go and let God"?

It really is one of the lovely things about following our Lord that we do not have to bear our burdens, because we can just give them over to Him and not have to worry or fret in any way.

We just have to obey and trust and become as little children, exactly as He told us to do.

Do this, and watch your troubles vaporize!