Challenging Negative Thoughts
Have you ever heard that expression, “Don’t believe everything you hear”? This is really true when it comes to negative thoughts. This is the process of being able to stop thinking thoughts that make you feel sad, guilty, anxious, depressed, or otherwise bad. Challenging negative thoughts is about having that “wait a minute” moment. Maybe you have had this type of thought before. You are thinking something, then you stop yourself. You realize what you are thinking, and that you may “spiral down” if you keep thinking it.
Some of the more common negative thoughts we think are…
I’m so stupid
No one will ever love me
Nothing I do is ever good enough
I am unlovable
I cannot do anything well
I’m such a failure
You are not alone if you’ve had these thoughts. We have these ruminations that happen on auto-pilot. They seem to never stop. But how do we challenge these thoughts? Ask yourself the following questions:
What has recently triggered me that I would feel this way?
Who told me this is what I am or what I do?
What evidence is there that this is true?
What do I know about myself that proves this is not really true?
What will happen if I keep on believing this?
What would happen if I stopped thinking about this?
There. You have taken the first step to challenging and questioning whether these negative thoughts are true. So take some time and really think about your answers to these questions. These negative thoughts have been with you for so long, they feel familiar and true, almost like a part of you. But it’s time to let them go.
Next week I will share about how to replace these negative thoughts with thoughts that are positive and lifegiving. You don’t have to live with pain. You have control over what you think.
