Last Friday I had my final session of CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy), having impressed both my therapist and myself with the progress I’d made in the last four months or so. And, almost immediately, I’ve been thrown an opportunity to put my new ‘skills’ to the test.
I received some bad news at the end of last week and the days since then have been something of a challenge. But I’ve taken a certain degree of satisfaction in being able to deal with it far better than I might have done last year.
I decided that the situation – and I guess this is true of many situations – is what it is. I can’t do anything to change what has happened or what is happening, the only thing I can change is how I respond to it.
Instead of panicking, throwing in the towel and imagining my world was ending (which has nothing to do with Harold Camping!), I chose to sit down and consider all the options I now have available to me. Panicking and giving up was never going to solve anything; considering my options a) focussed my mind, thus keeping me calmer and b) showed me that the situation wasn’t necessarily as bleak as I could’ve imagined given the chance.
I found I had several solutions I could then work on, helping me feel like I was doing something about the situation. Pretty satisfying when you consider I believed I couldn’t do anything about said situation!
Of course, I’m still somewhat stressed about it, and now have yet more things on my task list, so I have to work hard to keep my emotions under control. But that’s alright; it’s nice to know I’m not completely numb to ‘pain’ – something I’d been worrying about prior to this week, with being on anti-depressants.
So, I make that at least two positives from my ‘bad news’. Bring it on, Life, what else have you got for me?!
(Now excuse me while I go hide behind the sofa…)
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