24-Hour Rule

Cece has this thing called the 24-Hour Rule. I don’t know how the hell she came up with it, or how she manages to stick to it. The basic premise is this: do not allow yourself to experience any intense emotion for longer than 24 hours. If something exciting happens, you can only be joyous for 24 hours. If you feel like dog poo, you can only cry and sulk for 24 hours.

Thursday was hard. Emotionally, it was the most difficult day I’ve had in a very, very long time. It was hard to concentrate. I found myself blankly staring at my computer screen, going through the motions, just trying to make it shedding as few tears as possible. I took many bathroom breaks. My face was pale. My nose was red. I can only hope my occasional sniffles didn’t bother the cube mate who sits across the aisle from me. Maybe he just thinks I have allergies or something. Who cares.

By the afternoon, I was over my meager attempts at work, and found myself surfing YouTube for ANYTHING that might make the afternoon more bearable. Voila. I found the last five episodes of “The Game” that I had never gotten around to watching. The CW gave them a terrible time slot and wonders why the show doesn’t perform?! When the show is inevitably cancelled, it will be missed. The mixture of drama, comedy and real-life reactions are all too powerful and hit extremely close to home these days. [SPOILER ALERT] In the final episodes, the sexiest character (named Jason) ends up in jail for fighting Kelly’s “beau”. In a touching visitation session, Jason and Kelly have a heart-to-heart and really begin re-connect. All drama aside, it’s clear that these two still care about one another. Kelly pre-maturely develops this idea that she and her ex-husband will reunite and all will be well in the world. She looks at his jail time and trial as a sign that God is ‘bringing them back together’. As soon as he gets off, however, he embraces Kelly and thanks her, then proceeds to run to the arms of his new girlfriend. How fitting.

Brittany Daniel isn’t necessarily the best actress, but I swear she captured real emotion in those last scenes. And, I did appreciate that Derwin and Mel wound up together after all the drama. I mean – that really is what it’s all about. How do you know that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, for better or worse, until you endure all the triumphs and failures of a relationship? Well, you have to make it through a variety of trying situations and hold steadfast to the person beside you – for better or worse. I know it’s just a show, but watching young black couples make it on television is rare – especially in a manner that I can relate to. It restored in me a tiny bit of faith in relationships. A tiny piece.

Today is a new day. After work (yay for Summer Fridays!) I’m heading home with Anisa to see my parents, attend a funeral, and hopefully get some much needed rest. Rest from work, my personal life, and anything else that’s plaguing me right now. I’m looking forward to mom hugging me. I’m looking forward to dad’s cooking. I’m looking forward to some fresh air.

Since I’m just now subscribing to the “24 Hour Rule,” I might make a slight amendment for the first go-round and grant myself 48. Deep breaths. Everything is going to be okay…