Today's message, “Flip your perspective – it’s all about reframing.” Reframing is seeing your current situation from a different perspective. The Oxford language dictionary defines 'reframe' as 'to place (a picture or photograph) in a new frame.'

I must say, I love that as a visualization, because reframing is a verb. In order to flip our perspective, or reframe, we must make a conscious decision ‘to frame or express our words or concepts differently.’ Which, is the second definition in the Oxford language dictionary.

Our point of view is how we frame the stories we tell ourselves. The stories we tell ourselves.

Let’s say 'Margaret' is going through a breakup or a divorce and there are two picture frames side by side.  One frame is broken from where she threw it through a window and in it, is a picture of her and her ex on their wedding day ripped in half, his eyes blackened out with a sharpie pen.  A bit horrid, I apologize. The other frame is new, polished and contains a picture of 'Margaret' smiling in the sand at the beach, the sun setting behind her over the ocean waves. 'Margaret' is starting over and only she has the power to frame what the death of her former life will look like through the way she participates in life in her present day.

 Think of a hardship in your life. Write down one concise belief sentence. It might be, ‘my daughter is doing poorly in high school and she may fail in having a good career’ or ‘my ex broke up with me because I wasn’t good enough’ – whatever it is, there is no right or wrong.  Then, write down 4 more supporting sentences that support your belief.

So for ‘My daughter is doing poorly in high school and may fail in having a good career.’ Supporting belief number one might be that ‘my daughter is retaking her final year because she failed her classes’. Or, ‘my daughter skips school and parties with her friends.’

For the, ‘My ex broke up with me, b/c I am not good enough.’ Supporting belief number one, might be that ‘my ex broke up with me via text. Supporting belief number two, my ex had a child with someone else. 

You get the picture, pun intended!

Now, that you have your belief and four supporting statements written, write down the opposite of each belief and supporting statement.
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If you are interested in using an online reframing tool, I am adding one into the details section of this podcast. The reframing online tool is here, plug and play your beliefs and you will be amazed at the new insights you derive: https://reframe.thnk.org/tool/step/1/
 
Reframing and meditation are great tools to gain awareness for excavating and sparking new connections or what I call, “ah, ha moments.” We discussed reframing but let's talk meditation. In Vipassana meditation, there is a focus on reality, on self-observation to deconstruct the labels and beliefs that appear in the mind without judgment in order to gain insights. Once having the awareness, you can then take your focus to concepts like reframing and incantations based on your new learnings.

Remember, you are as strong, wise and capable as you think you are any given second of the day. Change your thinking, change your life.

Connect with me: Instagram.com/megan_nycmom