Hope in Second Line Thinking

"I can't help what I feel" she lamented. "My husband is uncaring, malicious and he torments me!" My patient was hurting. She was angry, frustrated and frightened. Her husband was everything she said he was and more. However, one thing that was not true about what she said was her belief that she could not help what she felt.

First Line Thinking (FLT) is thinking that arises out of "initial raw data" that the senses have provided. The eyes see, the nose smells, the ears hear, the tongue tastes and the hands feel. This data forms in the brain and we think about it. The facts are seen, smelled, heard, tasted and felt. A snake is seen or heard. The brain creates the raw data. The eyes are the light gathering, image gathering instruments but without a functional brain, there is no sight. There is no emotion, no behavior related to the raw data. However, once the snake data enters the presentation area, and SLT thinking gets into the mix, we might have any number of reactions to the raw data. For example, once the data got to my presentation field in my brain and my SLT took over my reaction to the snake would be immediate, forceful, emotionally loaded and quite decisive.

Second Line Thinking (SLT) is interpretive thinking. Raw data is given meaning, perspective is applied and belief systems, opinions, fund of knowledge and past experiences come into play. SLT is productive. Emotional and behavioral responses arise out of SLT. Raw data is rarely disputed. The senses are generally reliable although not completely trustworthy. Therefore, situations remain the same, facts remain facts and circumstances stay put. One may check and recheck the raw data making sure the data presentation in the brain, the FLT material, is correct. Sometimes clarifiying data or collaborative information does change the raw data presentation.

More often than not, however, circumstances and raw data does not change. Second Line Thinking can and often does change. How many times have we said or heard it said, "After further thought, I have decided to change my position on the matter." Belief systems can be altered, perspectives can change and opinions can be dropped or reversed. If we are not satisfied with some fact of our life, we can look more closely at our SLT. We can work to change our perspective, opinion or beliefs about certain data. "Is there another way of looking at the situation?"

Second Line Thinking is "to blame" for our behaviors and emotions. The circumstances, the raw data does not have to be altered for feelings and behaviors to change. SLT is the culprit. SLT is to be viewed as responsible for our life and we are responsible for our SLT. Someone has said, "We do not see the world as it is, we see the world as we are." This is true. Taking responsibility for our First and Second Line Thinking means we are out of the blame game and self-pity parties. We are empowered by this responsibility. We can change our life. We do not have to wait for others to change or the situation to change before we find relief. There is hope in Second Line Thinking.

It is Really Easy to Overlook This

It is really quite easy to sassy right past the primary significance of thinking. There are so many other "things" that need our full cognitive attention....such as, issues, problems, concerns, worries, hobbies, pets, events, relationships, emotions, promotions, demotions, addictions, births, deaths, travel, finances, planning, flowers, doubts, jobs, certainties.....and thousands of other stuff like that. Not to mention all the sneeky intrusive stuff on the side that lies in wait for just the right moment to jump in line and claim a few seconds or minutes of our brain time.

Rushing through a moment without so much as one concious notion that a moment is happening can lead to premature aging, i.e. what happened to the day, week, month, year or life. "I was so busy living that I forgot to notice the very thoughts that were producing the life." So, it just makes good sense to practic what I call "Cognitive Pausing".

Cognitive Pausing (CP) helps us slow down and think about what we are thinking about. In fact, CP can help us get in touch with the fact that we are, in fact, thinking. How many times have we heard, "Penny for your thoughts?" or "What are you thinking about?" only to be drawn up short and startled by the question; snapped back into the reality of the very thing that was pushing our wagon in the first place?

Life is a bouquet of thoughts, emotions and behaviors. You can't have one without the other. Thinking, however, is the godfather of the group. Behaviors and emotions are plenty important in life. We must not over look the fact that thinking is the genesis of both. Of course, there are times when body chemistry crashes the cognitive party and walks away with an emotion or two or three. My middle-aged female patient said, "I am PMS-ing! Don't tell me that it is all in my head and that my thinking is causing this!" I would not dare tell her anything of the sort because I do not believe EVERY EMOTION IS CAUSED BY THINKING..... BUT MOST ARE!