A Reminder to Reframe
My fragile, aging body reminded me yesterday of the importance of reframing difficult situations as worthy challenges. I’m signed up to race the 20 km Fischer Loppet at Hardwood Ski and Bike tomorrow, and despite my limited training this season, I’ve been feeling pretty good about it. I have fast new skis, I know the race course well, and I’ve been focusing a lot on good technique. But when I woke up yesterday morning, I knew right away I’d have at least one unexpected challenge on my plate: a bunch of muscles in and around my lower back were in agony. I herniated a lower back disk three years ago, and despite a nearly complete recovery, I’ve had to live with an injury-prone back ever since.
I was furious with myself. The strain was almost certainly a result of pushing too hard on my bike on Wednesday. I haven’t been to yoga - great for my back - in months. I could see a really race result slipping away.
As is so often the case, it was my wife who triggered the reframing. “You’re doing this to have fun, right?”
Yes, I agreed. I’m almost 43 -I’m not trying out for the Olympic team.
“And you can always withdraw.”
True. And if it keeps hurting like this, I will. I have a whole season of bike riding to look forward to, and I don’t want to risk that.
It’s often difficult for people with ADHD to see the positive side of things. Our attention has so often been called to what’s wrong that we have a hard time acknowledging what’s right. Certainly that’s how this flare-up in my back made me feel.
Peter Jensen, a superb motivational coach who works with elite athletes, taught me about the concept or reframing. Reframing involves taking the “picture” of your life, and taking it out of an ugly (negative, pessimistic) frame, and replacing it with a beautiful (postitive, optimistic) frame. The “picture” does not change, but the context changes completely.
Here’s how I reframed my back flare-up:
- I acknowledged that I race for fun, and that if I have to withdraw, I can.
- I took the injury as an opportunity to visit my friend Ed Tonus at Active Healing Centre. He’s the best massage therapist I know. I hadn’t seen him for a while, and he did a fantastic job working out the worst of the discomfort.
- I made a commitment to myself to devote more of my workout time to strengthening my core and improving my flexibility - both of which should reduce the chance of another injury.
- I reminded myself that my family and I have made the race a chance to get out of town for a couple of days and enjoy a hotel pool, sauna, and hot tub. My kids are thrilled.
Reframing isn’t always easy. But when you can make it happen, it’s a powerful way to turn a difficult situation into an opportunity for growth and positive change. I’ll be blogging more on techniques for managing personal change soon.
