In the late ‘80s, rapper Too $hort released the album Life Is... Too Short (1988) which was introduced to me by my cousin “G-Money.” In my uncle’s basement, G-Money and I rehearsed lyrics to the rapper’s explicit content.
It was around that time when I learned of the term “trippin’” (tripping), of which one source describes as, “When someone is overreacting or getting all bent out of shape over something small.” For context, on the ’88 album, Too $hort featured a song entitled “I Ain’t Trippin’.” Lyrics include:
I ain’t trippin’ no more
Really ain’t worth my time
So to squash it all I kicked on back
And wrote you all a rhyme
Benzes roll, Beamers jet
And Caddies keep on dippin’
You keep on talkin’ all that crap
I ain’t trippin’…
The rapper expressed how he changed his behavior. In particular, at one point he apparently used to overreact regarding undesirable situations. However, Too $hort ostensibly altered how he reacted by opting to no longer trip over little or inconsequential matters.
The term “trippin’” was frequently used in hip hop from the ‘80s and into the ‘90s. For instance, in the 1995 film Friday, character Red’s bicycle is stolen by Deebo. When Red’s dad learns of the event, he sends Red to retrieve the bike.
However, Red is afraid of Deebo and remains hesitant to follow through. Nevertheless, in one scene, Red hesitantly confronts Deebo by stating, “Pop’s trippin’, man. He want me to ask for my bike back. You know I wouldn’t trip,” as a means of displacing blame to his dad.
In any case, I used the term “trippin’” for about two decades, until it became unpopular in common parlance. Now, I consider how Too $hort’s declaration of no longer desiring to trip may be used as an illustrative psychoeducational example for Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT).
REBT theory uses the ABC model to illustrate how when Activating events (“Actions”) occur and people maintain irrational Beliefs about the events, these unhelpful assumptions – and not the actual occurrences – are what create unpleasant cognitive, emotive, bodily sensation, and behavioral Consequences.
In particular, there are four predominate irrational beliefs which people use: demandingness, awfulizing, low frustration tolerance, and global evaluations. Addressing these, the ABC model incorporates Disputation of unhelpful assumptions in order to explore Effective new beliefs.
From a psychological standpoint, people disturb themselves using a Belief-Consequence (B-C) connection. Of course, this isn’t to suggest that in the context of the naturalistic or physical world there is no Action-Consequence (A-C) connection.
As an example, if you fall off of your bicycle and hit your head (Action), you may experience a concussion (Consequence). Still, if you unhelpfully Believe, “That shouldn’t have happened to me,” then you’ll likely disturb yourself into an angry or sorrowful disposition (Consequence).
Thus, I help people to stop upsetting themselves through use of B-C connections, though I can’t fully resolve their A-C connections. This is where the importance of Too $hort’s declaration comes in handy.
The rapper expressed, “You keep on talkin’ all that crap, I ain’t trippin’,” which is indicative of one’s refusal to self-disturb with unproductive beliefs about an undesirable occurrence. Too $hort essentially chose not to trip using a B-C connection.
This is precisely the objective of rational living. After all, people will likely continuing to talk shit though you don’t have to trip yourself up with unfavorable beliefs about their behavior. As such, you can change your own behavior by not overreacting to matters of little importance.
Since having begun frequent practice of REBT in my personal and professional life (and I mean daily), as Too $hort stated, “I ain’t trippin’ no more; really ain’t worth my time.” If you’d like to know more about how not to trip over little shit, I’m here to help.
If you’re looking for a provider who works to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.
As the world’s foremost old school hip hop REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.
At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply helping you to feel better, I want to help you get better!
Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW
References:
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Hollings, D. (2022, October 31). Demandingness. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/demandingness
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