When John F. Kennedy visited NASA in 1962 he talked with many people there. Each one told him about their jobs, with various details of the day-to-day. But when he met a janitor in the hallway and asked him what he did for NASA, the man replied “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”
Each day we have the opportunity to understand and reframe our thoughts and perspectives. We tend to have a running monologue describing and evaluating who we are and what we are doing, and we seldom stop to question it. Then we relate to ourselves and others through the frame of that description. Yet it’s always possible – and often much more accurate – to reframe the description in other ways. Reframing is not a denial of the facts, it accepts the actuality of whatever’s going on and then expands the view to include a wider picture.
The man who replied “I’m helping put a man on the moon,” framed his work in a larger context; he valued himself and his contribution, and he saw the truth of the interdependence and value of everyone who worked there. This perspective is always available to us. Preparing a meal is a divine service that provides nourishment in support of life itself. Playing with blocks with a toddler is spreading love and developing self-confidence and self-acceptance in a young child, as well as building a toddler’s understanding of spatial relationships. A workplace role not only contributes to the projects you’re involved with, but also supports those you work with in far deeper ways, interacting with respect and understanding. Staying calm in the midst of stress or disagreements is a vital contribution. Paying attention to others with a smile and sincere wishes for their well-being can mean more to someone than you’ll ever know.
There is so much on television and media that promotes judging people by standards that are essentially meaningless. Those standards frame a picture devoid of human dignity, and ignore our moment-to-moment ways of being and the precious value of each of our lives and roles. We are not just worker bees to be judged by how much we produce, or our wealth or status. We are way larger than society’s measures of success or fame.
The ability to reframe our picture at any moment serves three vital purposes:
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It reestablishes ourselves as valued and valuable. For example, if we are struggling with a task or situation, instead of only viewing it as “I’m no good at this,” or “I’m not doing well,” it can also be seen as “I’m attempting something new and challenging. I have the courage and willingness to try things out and do what I can to work things through.”
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Reframing is a way to make anything part of your spiritual work. Taking the same example, we can use our own feelings to open compassion for others who are struggling, reframing as “My feelings of self-doubt help me have compassion for others who also feel this way.” Other frames with which we could view the situation might be “Trying something new grows me spiritually,” or “This is helping me learn greater humility.”
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And thirdly, reframing makes us more aware that no matter what we think or how we frame things, there is always more than one way to view whatever’s going on. It opens us to actually understanding that the way we see things about ourself or others may not be how they actually are, and that there are other legitimate ways of looking at any situation. Reframing helps us loosen up, become less attached to our own opinions, and let go of the need to be right.
© 2021 Shanti Natania Grace
Art by René Magritte – “The Human Condition” (Excerpt)
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