Let us introduce you to the concept of Reframing
One of the most powerful tools you can use to remove burden, worry, and difficulty from a move is a skill called reframing. It is the ability to change the way you are looking at something. When you are faced with a difficult situation, you can bring about a positive mental shift in viewpoint purely by will. This then opens up new possibilities that you couldn’t see before. Undreamed-of benefits begin to show up; novel solutions, beneficial meetings, material assistance-these and more are released by the switch of your will to alter your own view of things.
Practicing the Skill
Look at this picture. Do you see a skull? Good. Now, can you momentarily forget the skull and see another picture? Yes, it’s a pretty lady at her vanity mirror.
Practice shifting back and forth between the skull and the lady. (You may find your perception momentarily “stuck” on one or the other image.) Notice that this ability to reframe is already built into your mental apparatus. It really is true: it’s all in how you look at it.
Reframing Your Move
What if you were apply the capacity of reframing to moving? For instance, consider reframing your move:
- From loss of control to keeping control
- From fear, clinging, worry to confidence
- From loss to gain
- From leaving the old to embracing the new
- From maintaining false independence to enjoying healthy interdependence
- From losing what’s important to gaining perspective on what’s important
- From burdened to lightened up
- From age-ing to sage-ing™
If the “from” set of descriptions represent the way you have been considering your move, consider reframing them into the “to” set. What new insights will come to you when you take that step? How will you behave differently, taking new actions and leaving old ones undone? Find out by applying the reframing skill to your move . . . right now!
The Power of Positive Thinking
Take some time to study the right-hand column descriptions above. Practice writing new definitions of your relocation experience that are particularly fulfilling for you. Talk to yourself about the move in new ways. Imbue your mind with positive thinking. Choose one of the following affirmations to make your own:
- This move is an opening door for me. I anticipate only good things.
- I have endless reserves of energy for this move. I can relax, pace myself, and enjoy it.
- I am leaving nothing important behind me. All my cherished memories are intact, and I am creating new memories.
Write down your affirmation and put it where you will see it each day. Don’t forget to affirm yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back each and every time you notice that your reframing project is “paying off”-i.e., resulting in new and more satisfying thoughts, feelings and actions.