Distorted thinking...

I love this article shared with me by my mom.  There is a lot of value in looking deeply into the kind of "thinking" we spend our time invested in.  It can really shape our daily lives...  Is it positive?  Is it self-sabotaging?  Is it judgmental?  The article mentions a few types of thinking that I feel are quite relevant to us, especially as dancers:

Filtering

• bringing negative details to the forefront while ignoring the positive aspects 
• allowing one tiny mistake to negate the remaining efforts and your success 

Mind Reading

• you think you know what people think and feel, without them even telling you 
• then you act on it, or react to it, when it isn't even real 

Catastrophizing (I'm not sure that's a real word?) 

• thinking you are always in DANGER! 
• constantly expecting a disaster! (who wants to live like that?!) 

Emotional Reasoning 

• if you feel something, it must be true 
• if you feel ugly, you must be ugly
• stop allowing emotions to flow freely in your head -- sometimes they are just not true! 

Heaven's Reward Fallacy (my personal favorite) 

• making sacrifice while thinking that someone, somewhere, is keeping score 
• living a wonderful life is great, but don't beat yourself up if you make a mistake -- there is no one keeping score, and everyone makes mistakes

Don't let this type of thinking control you... it can lead to a distorted self-image and we don't want that!