Monday, August 30, 2010

Re-framing

Sometimes we get stuck in a rut, and after a while, it seems hard to see over the edges. Sometimes it's easy to forget what things look like outside the rut, and sometimes it even gets hard to believe there will ever be anything else besides the rut!

When days, weeks, or more seem to slip into this pattern, the only thing to do to save one's sanity is to re-frame. When I need to re-frame, it usually looks something like this:

1. It's true that ________________________ (insert issue), but I can handle it because I have security, love, support, and access to chocolate and long, hot showers.

2. Instead of focusing on how hard __________________ (insert issue) is right now, I can look around at the beautiful things all around me and spend a little more time appreciating the good I also have.

3. In hind sight, ______________________ (insert issue) won't seem like as big of a deal as it does right now, and how I handle it may make future issues easier to deal with.

and...

4. In this life, everything is temporary, no exceptions; the bad and the good, everything changes.

When I get stuck in a rut, I try to remember these things... a sort of mantra that helps re-frame what we're going through in the moment, and sometimes even helps us see some good in the trouble we feel swallowed up by. Even when things seem to be charmed and running perfectly smoothly, it helps to remember point #4, which makes us live thankfully and keeps us from taking our blessings for granted.

After all, it's true: everything is temporary.

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