I have managed to re-sprain my knee while stretching. It’s Saturday afternoon, and I ask myself: what’s going on right now?
My knee is aching, which is frustrating because I can’t train, so I’ll go back to being unfit, and that’s bad for my cholesterol, my energy, and my mood. What’s happening now? Things are sh!t.
Now let me replay and hit the slow-motion button. There’s the sharp pain in my knee, shooting up my leg… and then, almost immediately a flood of thoughts and frustration. This split is very important. In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), they refer to the pain as the Primary Experience, while the thoughts and emotions that follow as the Secondary Experience.
Why does this matter? Because I can do something about the Secondary Experience. Easy or hard it’s the only thing I have influence over. So, it’s worth learning to recognise this split as it happens. This alone can be very beneficial.
And then I can experiment with handling the Secondary Experience. For example, once I catch myself worrying about cholesterol, I might stop the thought train, decide to chill, and watch "best of UFC trash talking" on youtube. I’m still learning, but even small progress is worthwhile.
Author: JD
Image by MH Rhee from Pixabay
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