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Book Reviews
A Review of
Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy
Dr Burns’ book, FEELING GOOD, is one of the most helpful books that I have read. I have gained much insight from his writing and have been practicing applying that insight in my daily life.
My practice of negative thinking was causing continued sadness in my life. I told myself was “just being realistic.” But because of negative thoughts, my outlook on life was often dismal. One of things I chose to do was to study Dr. Burns’ “Definitions of Cognitive Disorders.” I am including the list here.
- All-or-Nothing Thinking
- Overgeneralization
- Mental Filter
- Disqualifying the Positive
- Jumping to Conclusions
- Magnification or Minimization
- Emotional Reasoning
- Should Statements
- Labeling and Mislabeling
- Personalization
I’ll share two examples where understanding and applying these concepts has helped me to be more positive, and to live a happier life.
I am a perfectionist in much of my thinking. Often, after I accomplished a task, I would stand back and evaluate it. Generally, I felt a sense of unhappiness because I felt it wasn’t good enough, or it wasn’t exactly as I had hoped it would be. So I fell into the trap of All-or-Nothing Thinking. I would dismiss my work with a wave of my hand, imagining that any possible negatives far outweighed the positives. I am catching my distorted thinking more often now. Even at this moment I am telling myself the truth about the writing of this paragraph. It may not be perfect, but I hope it may encourage you. I will declare it good enough!
Another area of distorted thinking that I have struggled with is Should Statements. If an opportunity to serve in some capacity arose, I rarely asked myself if I had the time, talent, or passion to do it. I felt I should do it. Well, with that kind of thinking, I should do everything that was requested of me. Impossible! I couldn’t! I didn’t want to! Ultimately, who was telling me I should do it? ME! What a slave driver I was to myself. I am a person who loves to serve others and desires to help people with their struggles in life. But I need to make choices that help me to live healthy and be happy. For example, yesterday I was asked to contribute my time to help on a project that was not a good fit for me. Instead, I volunteered to write this. So, rather than feeling like I should do that other project, I am writing to you, my friend. And I’m Feeling Good!! |
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