COPING WITH STRESS

COPING WITH STRESS- RE FRAMING

Re-framing is a technique to change the way one looks at things in order
to feel better about them. There are many ways to interpret the same situation. So pick the
one you like. Re-framing does not change the external reality, but helps you view things in
a different light and less stressfully. The sense, significance or substance of any situation
is found in the frame within which we view it. “When something happens, is it good, or is it
bad?” The following story (“Quality Performance in Human Services Leadership”, ed.
F.Gardner and Sylvia Nudler) explains how the concept of framing or reframing depends
on the mental perspective of a person.

A Russian farmer in the 1800s was out ploughing his fields one spring day and, as he
unhooked the plough from his horse, his horse leaped and galloped out of his fields and
into the forest. The man walked back to the village that evening and told of the event. His
friends and neighbours gathered around him and exclaimed about his misfortune, saying
what an unlucky day this was for him. The man said only, “You never know.”

Not more than two weeks later, the man and his son were out slowly ploughing the spring
fields by themselves, when the farmer’s horse trotted back into the field along with another
horse, a wild horse. When the farmer and his son arrived in the village at the end of the day,
riding one horse and leading the second horse, all of their friends and neighbours gathered
around them and talked about how fortunate is was that their horse went into the wild,
because now they had two horses on the farm. Once again, the thoughtful farmer said only,“You never know.”

Several days later, the farmer’s son broke his leg when he was thrown from the wild horse
while trying to break it in and train it for farm work. That night, the villagers cursed the
unfortunate day that the wild horse came to the farm. The farmer said, “You never know.”

Not long after, the entire village shook when the Cossacks came roaring across the plain,
going from house to house, and conscripting every man of fighting age into service until
they came to the farmer’s home, where they left his son with his family because of his
broken leg. That night, a mourning village came together to console themselves and each
other and to tell the farmer how lucky he was that the wild horse had broken his son’s leg.
The farmer looked at all of his neighbors and said only, “You never know.”

The villagers in the story were very quick to place meaning on every event, to interpret it,
and place it in the scheme of things past and future. The “frame” of meaning through which
they gazed let them know how they were to feel, what was to be done next, and what to
watch out for in the future. The farmer in the story saw life and circumstances through a very
different lens. He extracted no meaning from events and went from event to event, from
moment to moment, giving what was called for and taking what was given.......

we must earn to get rid of negative thoughts or feeling that can result in stresses.

Reframing requires that they -
1. Focus more on the positive things in life
2. Eliminate negative thinking
3. Enjoy each task and enjoy each moment