Reframing your thoughts to reduce your stress

How to replace negative thoughts with more positive thoughts

Family caregiving, by nature, is stressful. Today’s typically juggle work and taking care of a loved one with raising their own family. There is often not enough time for yourself, and this type of continual pressure can make us feel tired and stressed and, therefore, negative.

The process of reframing is recognizing when your thoughts are processing everything in a negative direction and finding a positive way to think of them instead. An example is viewing a terrible day as just a low point in a wonderful life overall.

Reframing is a way to alter our perceptions of stressors and, thus, relieve significant amounts of stress and create a more positive life before actually making any changes in our circumstances.

They say that a picture is worth 1000 words. I say when you are overloaded, a picture is worth a million words! So, I collected a few graphics that provide insight and examples of reframing more clearly than a long post could.