Many of us tend to “split” and see life and ourselves as either good or bad, right or wrong, smart or dull, fair or unfair, or one extreme or the other. This is called “black and white thinking “and we generally engage in it to give us a sense of control and familiarity. In truth, the world is an uncertain place and residing in the gray or the space between is where balance lives. Finding the balance requires an awareness of our cognitive thoughts and practicing techniques to pull us into the gray zone.
Realizing we don’t have all the answers doesn’t mean we are lost but rather gives us an opportunity to learn coping skills and exercise flexible thinking. We can train our brains. When black and white thinking appears rather than choose to believe it willy nilly, refute it with a replacement thought. Talking yourself through it or writing the thought down and coming up with a balanced statement can be a good strategy. Even taking a few minutes to stay with the anxiety created when we work toward accepting the uncertainty of life is grAy OK!