Scarlett O'Hara is the original f*ckboy. If you've ever seen the movie or read "Gone With The Wind," then you probably know the iconic tale. Southern belle Scarlett O'Hara takes the love of affluent playboy Rhett Butler for granted. She marries several men before him, but even after marrying and starting a family with Rhett she is still infatuated with the dreamy Ashley Wilkes. When Ashley's wife dies, Scarlett finally realizes that her feelings for him were nothing more than a superficial childhood obsession. In the typical Disney story this would be the part where Scarlett runs into Rhett's arms and they forgive each other and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, this tale ends very differently. Scarlett does run into Rhett's arms, but only to realize that her actions are irreversible and that Rhett has tired of being taken for granted.
What Scarlett can teach us about taking people for granted
Thanksgiving is usually the time of the year when people stop to really reflect on the things that they've taken for granted. For most, it's having a family, good health, and enough resources to live comfortably. But even when you're listing things that you're thankful for it's easy to overlook the things that you've taken for granted, which usually aren't things at all. They're people -- the people who have always had your back, given you the brutal truth, taken care of you when you needed it, and provided you with unconditional support. Maybe it's that shy aunt who always listens to your rants at holiday dinners, that one friend who has been there for you so many times that you've forgotten how rare that is, or that random person in your chemistry class who you suspect has a crush on you.
No matter who it is, don't be a Scarlett O'Hara -- because nothing is unconditional. Not even the weakest person or the kindest heart will stay by your side until the very end if you continuously take them for granted. They might come back to you time after time after time that you treat them like sh*t, but you can rest assured that there is always a cutoff line. Humans are mostly wired to look after themselves and examples of true altruism are extremely rare in both nature and social interaction. If there's one certainty in life it's that nothing lasts forever.
Yes, it's also human nature to want what you can't have and to overlook what you do have. But the cost of giving into that tendency is that, one day, you're going to be left without a Rhett Butler and you're going to try to do everything that's in your power to undo your actions. Don't end up like Scarlett who, at the very end of her love story, has to hear the words:
