by Johna Hansen, L.C.S.W.

Among all of the other things that did not go according to my plans the other day, at one point I got stuck in traffic and became angry thinking “there should not be any traffic on this street!” and “these cars must move now!” Then I saw a sign that said “SPEED BUMP” and I started laughing. I realized life is full of speed bumps. After laughing at the speed bump sign, each time something else did not go according to plan I just laughed again and said “SPEED BUMP” and carried on.

As I thought further about laughing whenever I said “Speed bump”, I remembered that Albert Ellis created humorous songs that helped people to stop disturbing themselves. Therefore, I tried to take a stab at creating one to remind me to dispute my demands instead of ruminating on irrational beliefs and replace my shoulds and musts with a rational statement. I wrote the following lyrics to the tune of “Call Me Maybe”.

Dispute Your Demands

I threw my wish in the ditch

And only wanted to bitch

I felt angry ruminating

And now demands are in my way

Shoulds and Musts were holding

Angry mind

Skin was glowing

Hot night

Fumes were blowing

How do you think irrational beliefs are helping?

Hey just a minute

This may seem healthy

Stop demanding

So you can think straight

It’s not so hard to switch thoughts

Go on and try it

Dispute your demands