Did you know that how you see anything that happens is within your control and not static? It is literally a moving object in your mind long after you first “see” it.
Have you Discovered the Power of REFRAMING?
When my parents died there was one painting that brought special memories to my heart – a little girl about five with soft blond curls, walking proudly alone on the beach, splashing in the waves in her bare feet, and carrying her shoes under her arm. It always took me back to our wonderful summers in Prince Edward Island and my Mom said the little girl reminded her of me. It had a very old and actually ugly frame. I decided to have it professionally reframed and keep those special memories of me and my Mom alive. Reframing the picture in a soft color completely changed the entire ambiance of the picture and celebrated the ocean and the little girl so much more.
We as humans have this amazing power over our circumstances. We can reframe an event, a comment or a choice anytime. This poses a significant responsibility because it puts the interpretation of all things back on us.
Can you own the phrase “the gift of adversity?” A beautiful example is the story of Helen Keller. It is reflected in so many of her quotes; “I seldom think about my limitations, and they never make me sad. Perhaps there is just a touch of yearning at times; but it is vague, like a breeze among flowers.” WOW! Imagine reframing losing your sight and hearing “like a breeze among flowers.”
Many years ago when my four children ranged between eighteen months and seven years of age I was diagnosed with cancer. It shook all the young Moms I knew who up until then were busy with all the demands of parenting. What if this happened to them? What if they were told “only one in four survive” and they had to continue with all the daily responsibilities of being a Mom?
One day a Mom stopped me on the street after I had completed two years of over fifty weekly, bi-monthly and monthly experimental cancer treatments. “How are you?” she said. “I am great, thanks,” I replied. “Oh, but it is just the uncertainty of it all, isn’t it,” she added.
It was a turning point and an opportunity for me to reframe my experience. I lived with the truth, today is all we have. The reality was she could die before me. I was able to “own” the “gift of adversity”! I knew how absolutely special this day was.
I ran a four week Career Program and everyone arrived in various stages of defeat, fear and loss. How to jump start their energy and open them up to what is possible! This wonderful picture hung on the outside of the door to our program: “What matters most is how you see yourself.”
I decided to reframe their situation and change the words they used to describe it. I asked: “Did you know that no one is looking for work and none of you are unemployed? You are all on an adventure as a consultant!” When we reframe our circumstances we can change our energy and self-image dramatically!
Reframing can inspire and empower us in spite of the reality.
What could you reframe? How can you take yourself on a voyage of discovery and see yourself in a different way and literally become your own hero?
Send me your successes for it is in sharing that we empower each other!
