Black-and-White Thinking means seeing things in only two ways. Something is either perfect or it is terrible. There is no middle point. For example, a student gets a 90 on a test. A normal person says, "Good job!" But a person with black-and-white thinking says, "I did not get 100. I am a failure. This test is garbage." They cannot see the good parts if there is a small mistake. This is very bad for learning and working. If a student writes a story, they think it is the best story in the world or the worst story ever. They do not understand that a story can be "okay" or "good but needs some work." We call these middle points "gray areas." Life is not just black and white. It has many gray areas. To be happy and successful, we must learn to accept these gray areas. We must understand that making a small mistake does not make everything completely bad.
Vocabulary for Level A
Perfect: 100% good; having no mistakes at all.
Terrible: Very bad or unpleasant.
Middle point: The center; a place or idea between two extreme sides.
Failure: A person or thing that is not successful.
Garbage: Trash; something that has no value or use.
Gray area: A situation that is not clear; something that is not completely good and not completely bad.
Vocabulary for Level A
Perfect: 100% good; having no mistakes at all.
Terrible: Very bad or unpleasant.
Middle point: The center; a place or idea between two extreme sides.
Failure: A person or thing that is not successful.
Garbage: Trash; something that has no value or use.
Gray area: A situation that is not clear; something that is not completely good and not completely bad.