We all have opportunities to overgeneralize the problems we face.  I happen to have a passionate dislike for crawling into the tiny engine compartment on my yacht to fix the engine.  There is no space to move around, and I end up draped over the engine in an uncomfortable embrace.  When something breaks on those engines, I have another opportunity to chase overgeneralization from my mind.

As I struggle with the nuts and bolts in the inaccessible parts of the diesel engine, I remember the times the engine broke in the past.  If I want to make myself really miserable, I can imagine how many times it's going to break in the future, and I can conclude that sailing around the world on a yacht is an experience that could only be enjoyed by a masochist.  I can remind myself of all the money I have spent, and how much work it is to keep all the systems up and running.  I can think of how hard it is to be on watch at night when I am sailing offshore on long ocean passages.  Then I can conclude that sailing a small yacht around the world is nothing but an unpleasant, miserable experience.  My small engine problem has now expanded to nullify my trip around the world.  That's the way overgeneralization works.

Overgeneralization is a false mirror.  When something unpleasant or bad happens, don't look into this mirror.  It will only make your problems worse.  Go ahead and destroy this mirror.  Face the facts.  Problems have happened in the past, they will happen in the present,  and they are going to happen in the future.  A problem is as big as you make it.  Don't overgeneralize and say that this problems reflects your entire life.

Do you hear that sound?  It's you smashing the mirror of overgeneralization, and you are one step closer to beating the twisted thinking that used to make you feel so miserable.

Excerpt from :

Zero Tolerance To Negative Thinking : Good-by Depression - Hello Positive Mind

David J Abbott M.D.