Wednesday, April 20, 2016

The new ABCs!

All men have both a king and a joker in them. Some let their kingness dominate, some rather let the joker play. Its duality- and that's life. So, today my King let his Joker out to play- cue scary music. His joker is so crude, he makes distasteful jokes, basically hes always saying and doing dumb shit. A tool that has helped me to deal with his joker, is my amazing ability to identify “unhelpful thoughts” (any thoughts that steals joy) and of course understanding duality. Using the ABC thinking model I will demonstrate how to deal with the stupid shit men occasionally say and do.

A-   Activating event: (The what)
a.    In our example it’s a Facebook comment- one of my man’s famous immature jokes
                                          i.    “sex is better than traveling”
B-   Belief: (Our thoughts and how we respond to the what)
a.    I initially felt embarrassed and played – I thought his comment was Tamar Braxton level shadddyy
                                          i.    What’s the point of such a tasteless joke?
                                        ii.    Was he trying to hurt my feelings? How is this not putting personal stuff on social media?
                                       iii.    Who else saw it?
C-   Consequences: how your response/thoughts effect your feelings/day
a.    “Unhelpful” thoughts led to a disappointing day.
                                          i.    No longer fondly reminiscing about the morning sex
                                        ii.    Easily agitated- snapping on everyone for any reason
                                       iii.    Being “so over today”… before noon. Smh.

Now let’s see how happy this hump day can be with the use of the ABC model of thinking…

A-   Activating event: (The what)
a.    In our example it’s a Facebook comment- one of my man’s famous immature jokes
                                          i.    “sex is better than traveling”
**the (B) is work the work is done. This is where you choose “Queen or Crazy… strength or stress”**
B-   Belief: (Our thoughts and response to the what)
a.    He’s slightly retarded
                                          i.    Laugh it off- choose your battles
                                        ii.    He calls you Nyquil- dispute the negative thoughts
                                       iii.    Remind yourself of all the not so stupid shit he’s said recently- replacing negative thoughts.
C-   Consequences: how your response/thoughts effect your feelings/day
a.    Helpful thoughts allow you to move on with your day.  
                                          i.    Get a good laugh out a stupid joke.
                                        ii.    Plot revenge
                                       iii.    When he tries to get some- tell him “take a trip”
Using the ABC model is a powerful relationship tool, for any type of relationship. Do you have an idiot boss who is constantly doing and saying infuriating things? Or a friend who thinks dumb is cute?  ABC thinking helps you take control of what you can control-i.e yourself and how you respond to others. With the ABC model you can plan ahead for the dumb shit… pick a positive affirmation or a rational self-statement. A favorite of mine is “he’s as ignorant as he is educated, I accept duality”. This goes along with the whole grass is greener thing… either water your grass or learn to love the color.

Peace and love,

Yannie 

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