Absolutist Thinking and Emotional Pain
Absolutist thinking involves thinking in extreme terms, for instance, using words like Must and Should, and Have Too in your speech. These words cause emotional pain particularly when reality does not reflect our desired outcome. The difference between what we want and what is creates dissonance and emotional pain.
In essence we have a temper tantrum in our minds.
We argue how can reality be so unkind as to exist differently than we we strongly desire?
You can stop the temper tantrums in part by stopping you use of the words Must, Should and Have Too. Replace these words with less extreme words like Prefer, Wish, and Would Like.
