I’m a fairly optimistic person, but there are definitely moments where negativity sneaks in. If I’m not careful, I start to dread entire portions of my day and become irritable. One of my favorite quotes -oh wait, isn’t it called a mantra in runner speak? – Anywho, one of my favorite sayings is:
“Don’t treat a gift like a burden”
And we see this all the time. Something that we originally thought of as a gift eventually gets treated like it’s a giant pain. Work? Bleh. I don’t want to go to work today. But remember how grateful you were when you first got that job? What would your life look like if you didn’t have a job? Would you have a home? Would you be stressed about finances?
I would not survive without reframing. Reframing allows me to change how I look at situations to make them more positive. It allows me to see the benefit in doing things I might not want to do.
Reframing applies to most life situations, including running. (Of course!) On my long run days, I start to get anxious at work thinking about how I have to run 20+ miles in 10 degrees that evening. I think about how tired I am and how I’d much rather go home and stay on my warm couch than bundle up to run for an unreasonable amount of time. But I force myself to reframe. What if I was sick and couldn’t run? What if I lived in a dangerous area where I couldn’t safely run 20 miles? What if I had to run this long on a treadmill??? (Ultimate death) I worked for a long time to be able to run 20 miles. I reframe my thought process to think about how incredible it is that I can run a 20-miler after work and it doesn’t feel like a big deal.
I’m not saying reframing works for everything. As a social worker, I’m not going to ask someone with severe depression to “reframe and find the bright side in what you’re going through.” That’s a different beast. However, the art of reframing can make dreadful, exasperating tasks seem much more purposeful. Instead of saying, “I have to go to work today,” try, “I get to go to work today.”
Think about cleaning your home. Few people look forward to that task. Yet, I try to look at it gratefully. I have a home to clean. Not everyone can say that. I believe that gratefulness is essential to happiness. Reframing helps me to be more grateful in everyday life. So tonight, I am grateful that I get to run 20 miles after work. And I’m especially grateful I have a warm home and a pizza to come home too when I’m done.
