“When I expect myself to be superhuman, I become anxious and depressed; when I expect you to be, I become hostile; when I expect the world to be superperfect, I become self-pitying and rebelliously inert. If I am truly human, and expect nothing but humanness from others, I shall practically never upset myself about anything.”
—Albert Ellis, from Humanistic Psychotherapy
A Christmas Carol*: Plot Points
1. Bah humbug! Get your hands out of my pocket.
2. WTF! A GHOST!
3. Ghost: “You are a selfish mofo. Stop it.”
4. No, I won’t stop it. And you are not real!
5. Okay, you’re real, or whatever. Show me the past. I can take it.
6. Wow, the past was really terrible. No wonder I am so messed up.
7. I’ll go back and change it.
8. Oops, can’t change the past. Better focus on the present, and change the future.
9. Oh my god, look out. Tiny Tim is going to die.
10. Gifts. Turkey. Life.
by Charles Dickens, c. 1843.