Fun with Reframes

For my first reframe, I am thinking about exercise again… as posted most recently here where I talked about realizing how fun in exercise is crucial.  During today’s exercise, I came up with another reframe: exercise is a celebration of body.  It’s a way to say thank you to my body for doing all the great things it does for me.  It’s a way to remember the things that my body can do (as opposed to fixating on limitations). 

For years, exercise has been the opposite of a celebration for me.  It has been painful and full of self-critique and self-hate.  No wonder I’ve struggled so long with sedentary rebellion!

My next reframe was discovered in my last therapy session.  Recently my fear of men has been triggered big time.  This comes up now and then.  In session, I realized that the men who have abused me always pressured me to believe that all men were like them.  If all men were like them, then they were normal… and I was the messed up on.  Believing that ALL men are like my step-father, biological father and ex-husband (among others) is playing into the lie of a world view these jerks spent years trying to drill into my head.  I realized that it is rebellion to allow myself to see the reality that not all men are like these abusive jerks I have known.  Rebelling against those jerk-offs is something that is very appealling to me… so, I’m loving this reframe.  However, at the same time, I understand that it is important to keep my eyes open to see the way people really are rather than just assuming any person is like or not like someone I knew before.  My goal is to see WHAT IS… and hopefully this rethink will help me accomplish more of that in my life. 

Last, but not least, I am again realizing how important it is for me to realize that I am capable.  Hardly anything seems like it will be fun or even tolerable, because I start with the idea that I can’t get anything right anyway.  Affirming to myself that I am capable (as I first discovered here) is such a load off my back.  I am finding myself far more willing to step outside my teeny comfort zone and LIVE MORE.  Whooooooo hoooooooooooooooooo!  I love breakthroughs.  🙂  These experiences also again unscore for me how incapable I often feel…. I am just glad to understand this so I can challenge it.  It is kinda funny to have to reassure myself that I am capable of washing dishes or meditating for 30 minutes, but it works, so I’m going for it.  I can fold laundry, darn it!  Hehehehehehehe….

–AngryGrayRainbows