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A Powerful Technique To Overcome Negative Emotions
Use reframing to change how you think, feel, and act in difficult situations.
In 480 BC, the Spartan warrior Dienekes was preparing his men to fight the Persian army.
As the Spartans were settling into the mountain pass of Thermopylae in central Greece, they got some alarming news.
A man had caught a glimpse of the Persians and reported that their army was vastly larger than anything he had ever seen.
“When they discharge their bows,” he said, “the arrows are so many that they block out the sun.”
But surprisingly, Dienekes didn’t get riled up.
Instead, he calmly replied: “Oh good, then we will have our fight in the shade.”(1)
The Power of Reframing
Dienekes response isn’t just incredibly badass — it’s also a great example of reframing(2):
A psychological technique that consists of identifying and then changing the way situations, experiences, events, ideas, and emotions are viewed.
In other words, it’s a way of altering your perception of things.
And that can be very useful because it’s not the things themselves that disturb us; it’s our…
