The third circle (DW#513)
It is time to draw a third circle on our piece of paper.
This is the most challenging part of the exercise. The automatic negative assumptions that we make are usually automatic and don’t take much thought at all.
Coming up with alternatives to our automatic way of thinking WILL be challenging at first.
But please keep going. I promise you, it is worth the effort.
So write down several possible alternate explanations for the situation that is causing you distress.
You may ask yourself questions such as:
What evidence do I have for believing this?
What are the some of the things that I am ignoring that contradict these interpretations?
What conclusions am I jumping to that are not completely justified by the evidence?
What are some alternative explanations?
Who are some people that I know who would look at this differently? What interpretation would they have of these facts?
Do not worry at this stage if you don’t believe these alternate explanations or if they seem far-fetched. Just keep going and write down at least 5 or more possible (not necessarily probable) interpretations.
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