Our Creative Role
There are styles of thinking that can be harmful to your peace of mind and attitude. Learning to identify harmful thinking takes some practice because we're in the habit of letting most thoughts go by without much attention. One way to become more aware of your thinking is to imagine your thoughts as sentences you tell yourself. Now you can "listen up" for sentences that sound harmful to you.
Move through the slide show to see types of harmful thinking that can affect your attitude.
Negative Filter
With a "negative filter", you tend to think about, talk about and remember the negative things while filtering out the positive ones.
"All I remember about that day is the awful rainstorm…although now that you mention it, I guess there was a nice birthday party going on."
Labeling
"Labeling" is characterized by making blanket statements about something - attaching a label instead of identifying the problem. Labels can often set the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy.
"My boss is too frustrating for words."
Exaggerating
When you exaggerate, you can inflate an event and its likely consequences, and often underestimate your ability to handle things.
"It was SOOO bad, you just wouldn't believe it! I absolutely could not deal with it. I think things will go downhill from here."
Absolute Expectations
"Absolute expectations" can be characterized by using words such as MUST, NEVER, ALWAYS, HAVE TO, CAN'T, and NEED TO. For example, when running late do you think, "I HAVE to be on time!"? While it is preferable to be punctual, thinking this way can unnecessarily stir up feelings of high anxiety and threat
All or Nothing
In "all or nothing" thinking, there is no room for gray areas - your day is wonderful or absolutely awful. And this style of thinking usually tilts in favor of bad days. In other words, if anything goes wrong, the day is ruined.
Judgmental
Being judgmental is harshly judging other people and automatically assuming the worst. This is often related to past hurts. It clouds present vision.
"I could tell by looking at that woman that she would cause us trouble."
Rumination
"Rumination" is derived from ruminant animals (cow, deer, and llama) that chew their cuds over and over. You are ruminating when you keep going over and over and over a negative thing.
