No you don't, you just think you do

One of my favorite lines from a movie in the past year was in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." The Brad Pitt character and the Casey Affleck character are hiding out in a farmhouse, trying to be quiet in an upstairs bedroom. It's night-time, they are sleeping restlessly because there's some sound downstairs. If memory serves me, the Casey Affleck character says to Brad, while they are laying side by side in twin beds, "I have to go to the bathroom." Brad (Jesse James), shushing him up, gets up to check out the noise, strapping on his holster and says, "No you don't, you just think you do."

I try this on myself in various ways, and am very pleased with how effective it is."I need to have a hamburger." No you don't, you just think you do. "I can't go exercise, because I'm exhausted and I need to take a nap." No you don't, you just think you do. On and on. You think you need to buy something you didn't even know existed five minutes earlier. No you don't. You just think you do.

I picture Brad and Angie saying it to their kids when someone insists on finding a bathroom asap. Gotta go. Nah! You just think you do.

I still have not resolved my jaw-ear ache of three weeks now. I start to panic about my upcoming trip to high altitude. I imagine being transported by Red Cross helicopter, from death's door, to a lower altitude because I'm too physically weak to handle the stresses. No I'm not. I just think I am.

Try it out and be cool like Jesse James. Don't over-emphasize it, be calm and strap on your holster and get going. You're the little engine that could.