Fear, anxiety stress, self-doubt. All things that can crush you from the inside out.

I have been taking an AP psychology class which has not only been so interesting to learn about but has taught me about myself.

The man whom I took most interest in was Albert Ellis. Ellis developed rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), which is a confrontational cognitive therapy that vigorously challenges people’s illogical, self-defeating attitudes and assumptions.

Let's break that down…

It is not what happens at point A,

But how you react to it at point B,

Which eventually leads to the outcome at point C.

If you have a problem, a situation, a stressor, a reason for self-doubt or fear (POINT A), you must react reasonable, calm, and smart (POINT B). Take a few breaths, look for what you want at the end of the tunnel (POINT C). Point B is the main focus. It’s all about how you handle a situation.

This past week my family had a huge flood in our basement just 30 minutes before we had an open house (we are selling our house). As much as my mom and I wanted to freak out, cry, and lose hope, we thought of Ellis. The flood happened and now we had to decide how we wanted to react to this horrible situation. We took a deep breath and called for help. We attacked the stressful situation head-on. Although we had to cancel the open house and all our showings for the next two weeks, we saved ourselves the stress and anxiety and thought throughout the problem. This was just a small way of how Albert Ellis has helped me avoid an absolute mental break down, but his ABC method can be applied to the smallest and biggest of situations.

You need to be positive, keep your head up, see the sun. This is a psychological proven theory that proves you need to deal with your battles by walking UP the hill not tumbling down.