Ya big fibber, the only reason you might hate it is body disposal is such a pain. Otherwise, ya love it and ya know it.

The Rant.
I admire someone who can vent by pulling together an articulate, layered, and seething rant.
If done with humor, well, it's pure gold.

When you say you "shut down", what do you mean, exactly? Do you lay on the bed and stare at the ceiling, thinking about your problem all day? Or does that mean that you just prefer to be alone for a while? Are you extremely unhappy and depressed while it's going on, or are you content but just figuring things out?

That really doesn't sound very effective. I'm guessing that maybe you take things a little bit harder than is neccessary? Life does go on, you know.

I personally try to employ a strategy where I emphasis the good things and don't pay much attention to the bad things. It's hard to get used to doing that, but I think it really is psychologically healthy.

I mean, usually, when something bad happens, there's only a very limited number of things you can actually do about it. There comes a point where any further dwelling on said bad thing only makes you feel worse.

Well, shit...you got me.

I try not to explode over little things that iratate me , and lord knows there are a lot of them . I tend to hold it all in side untill i can use all that energy for a good purpose . Forntunly i work on scales and have to shift around a lot of 50lb weights all the time , or swing a sledge hammer .
I have made a 1"thick x 3'x2' steel bace plate jump a foot or more in the air like this . My co-workers have learned to just step out of the way . I figured this out when i was young and my Mom and big sister would fight . I couldn't take eather side or else i would just get cought in the middle , so i would just go split logs . We always had PLENTY of fire wood !!!

      Onyx, if I may ask, does the shutting down method actually get you over it, or is it just a system to bury it? By bury it I mean submerge it somewhere where it might reemerge later.

      Damn Zip, that's one hell of a plate for you to be banging on. Nice heigth on that jump by the way. Keep your toes clear.

i cope 3 ways -- emotional outburst, yelling or tears.... temper tantrum.

go somewhere cold and dark, and sit till i'm feeling better...fall is the best season for that...

or sneak into my daughter's room when she's asleep, stroke her hair and listen to her breathe.

She looks like she was dancing. But kids always look like that.

Cute young'un!

      Cute kid, indeed. Though judging from her expression, one that's up to something...       My own daughter can brighten my darkest day with a hug. It's a pity that they'll grow up and we lose this. Oh well, we'll likely get grandkids out of it... wait... that doesn't look as good on screen as it did in my head...

I alternate between burying myself in work, slacking off from work, punching the heavy bag in the garage and going somewhere "everybody knows my name".

Of course, Conway is in a dry county so that place is the corner coffee shop. I guess I jitter in my sorrows instead of wallowing in them.

My least favorite would be booze. I may feel better if I go drinking with sympathetic friends, but it's really the sympathetic friends that help, the booze just makes us whiny.

Onyx - I cope in the exact same way. If its little shit - I make a joke. If its big - like recently my Grandfather died - I pushed on and organized everything, helped out my grandma and then completely shut myself down for a couple of days. Don't even necessarily think about anything - just shut down. Worried my BF sick - but after I had to explain to him how I cope with stuff. I go into my hole, sort everything out, and won't come out until I have a handle on it.