Underrated Magazine: Vol 1 Issue 2 - Nefelibata

U N D E R R A T E D
Just as schemas file helpful information, there is also negative schemata that can intrude and bias our
schemas (Flett et al., 2017). The negative schemata consist of a viscous triad of negative thoughts about
yourself, the world, and your future (Flett et al., 2017). Most often, negative schemata takes over
through partaking in dysfunctional attitudes leading to cognitive biases (Flett et al., 2017). Although
there are a few types of attitudes that we all too often take part in, there is one that I believe is worth
going into depth on, selective abstraction (Flett et al., 2017). This is the process of coming to conclusions
based on one component out of a whole situation (Flett et al., 2017); it is maximizing your faults and
minimizing the things that did go well in a given situation (Flett et al., 2017). This destructive attitude
towards our life experiences negatively influences the schemas we have about ourselves, our world,
and our futures. All in all, this is how negative notes get tagged onto specific schema files which have
lasting effects on how we go about achieving our future endeavors.
In order to end the biases, we must remold what we have convinced ourselves of. We must loosen
the reigns of our misperceived realities and learn to control and grow from focusing on the
negative schemata triad (Flett et al., 2017). We need to take our victories and enjoy the process we
encounter each day.
Be insightful about the present you!
Personally, I love thinking of my future, the things to
come, the people that I still have yet to meet. To me,
it’s something that both excites and frightens me. The
problem with the future is that it’s unpredictable,
which leaves room for the negative schemata triad to
have its way.
What I want to leave you with is what I
continue to tell myself every time I’m on the
platform about to board onto the future
focus train of thought.
During the midst of the quarantine in March 2020,
where my future focus was on a high, I found myself
losing sight of the person I was at that moment. I
began to convince myself that I was not good enough
to get out of the moment I felt stuck in and I would get
upset at myself for not having the answers to things
that hadn’t even occurred yet in real life. Looking back
at my past self, I can see how hurtful it was to myself to
put the weight of the world on my shoulders where I
found myself attempting to micromanage my
tomorrows in a situation that I, nor anyone in the
world, had or has control over.
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