Positive Reframing is tricky for me, especially when I’m not feeling my most “resilient self”. It is also one of the Centering Skills that gives me the most relief from the external stressors when I use it.
Just last week, one of my three kids tested positive for COVID. Ugh! It ended up being a false positive, but that wasn’t known prior to having to pick up ALL my kids from school, worrying about next steps, fear, and confusion about what it all meant.
Long story short, I was able to use Positive Reframing to help bring me back to center. Despite the inundation of emails, rapid testing, PCR testing, and concerns of missed homework, I found myself using Finding Gratitude (for our health) and it was, ultimately, Positive Reframing that helped me to say to the kids, “Well, looks like you get a five day weekend! Let’s watch a family movie,” (on a Wednesday night). Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is a great watch, by the way.
It is funny to me how simple yet difficult this skill is. It’s as if the Rubik’s Cube of my mind gets solved instantaneously despite the fact that moments earlier the answer of the puzzle seemed far from presenting itself. The more I use the skill, the more I have confidence that I can find the right way to look at the situation. I find I can turn something around by seeking its positive possibility. I can step back from being the victim of circumstances and invent a new lens to see through. I find I can depend on the skill more and more, and I am developing a stronger trust in the skill itself.
Not only am I increasing my use of the skill through practice, but I find that this particular skill has given me access to more joy in my life. It gives me access to an internal freedom, and it unhooks me from a negative story that limits my joy.
I invite you to play with the Positive Reframing skill, even when it seems hard, because in moments, it becomes easier . . . and easier . . . and easier. It works.
Yours in service,
Bryan