It often sucks trying to live as a spiritually alive environmentalist. Unless, of course….
THE BOTTOM LINE
“Reframing” is a normal, everyday process that is common to all human beings. When we, spiritual seekers and environmentalists, get stuck in “stinkin’ thinkin’” we can make our lives miserable. However, we can get unstuck and move ahead as we Catch it — Check it — Change it. Master this normal self-help process and you will feel the difference. Change your thinking, which will change your feeling, which will give you a new energy to remain an evolutionary.
This is the opening article for a series I’ve titled Living Joyfully while the Environment Collapses.
“You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope someday you’ll join us
And the world will be as one.”
THE STAGES OF A SUCKY LIFE
Take a look at the chart below, which comes from the book TRIBAL LEADERSHIP: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization. People are identified at different stages based upon their language. When I worked with men who were in a halfway house between prison and life outside, I often heard them use Stage 2 language: “My life sucks, and yours doesn’t.” And then there are those at the other end, Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu, who live and have lived, at Stage 5. I’ve been in their presence, separately, and they both giggle a lot.
The difference is this — To function at high stages one must become adept at reframing the ugliness of life, into something good, true, and beautiful.
Take the bumps in stride and turn them into blessings.
At the bottom of this article, I’ll offer some resources on how to cultivate the skill of reframing.
THE BASICS OF REFRAMING NEGATIVE INTO POSITIVE
Catch it. Check it. Change it.
Catch the negative thought (What am I telling myself?)
Check the negative thought (What is wrong with this thought?)
Change the negative thought (What would be a better thought?)
Spot. Stop. Swap.
SPOT a feeling or issue.
STOP to understand what it is.
SWAP in a new way of processing.
MORE ON CATCHING AND SPOTTING
I have a list of 15 “cognitive distortions” that I share with my clients regularly. You can Google the subject and find that “Cognitive distortions are internal mental filters or biases that increase our misery, fuel our anxiety, and make us feel bad about ourselves.”
Much is made, in the world of CBT — Cognitive Behavioral Therapy — about noticing one’s negative thoughts and feelings and writing them down. Taking them out of your head and heart and putting them on paper.
MORE ON CHECKING AND STOPPING
Rather than trying to suppress or move away from a negative thought, move closer and approach it with a spirit of wonderment. “Wisdom begins in wonder,” said Socrates. Make friends with your stinkin’ thinkin’ and wonder about the origin of those thoughts and feelings, their reasonableness and practicality, their assumptions and biases. Wonder if these thoughts are creative, or reactive? Hold them up for objective examination to see what sense you can make of them.
MORE ON CHANGING AND SWAPPING
“Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.” So says the Dalai Lama.
In 2015, Archbishop Desmond Tutu traveled to Dharamsala, India. The purpose of his visit was to see his friend, His Holiness the Dalai Lama. For five days the two celebrated their decades-long friendship, teased each other like children, and pondered the link between joy and suffering. During those days they danced together, the Dalai Lama for the first time. In 2016, with Douglas Abrams, a book was published that recounted their visit: THE BOOK OF JOY: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World.
Suffering is optional.
These two men have suffered greatly. None would dispute it.
Tutu says, “The question is not: How do I escape? It is: How can I use this as something positive? Just as you, Your Holiness, have just described. Nothing, I think can be more devastating in many ways than being turfed out of your own country. And a country is not just a country, it is a part of you. You are part of it in a way that is very difficult to describe to other people. By right, the Dalai Lama should be a sourpuss…. And then when you smile your face lights up. And it is because in a very large measure you have transmuted what would have been totally negative. You’ve transmuted it into goodness.” Page 39–40.
Those of us who are trying to integrate environmentalism with spirituality while being “turfed out” of a healthy planet, have much to learn from these two sages. I’ve read the book three times in search of their wisdom.
These two spiritually alive people have build their non-reactive creativity by reframing their pain.
THE 8 PILLARS OF JOY
I will be writing a separate article on each, as much for my own therapeutic benefit as for yours. Here are the 8 pillars of joy from the book:
- Perspective.
- Humility.
- Humor.
- Acceptance.
- Forgiveness.
- Gratitude.
- Compassion.
- Generosity.
Trying to live as a spiritually alive environmentalist often sucks. Unless, of course….
We transmute our negativity into something more positive by cultivating the skills of reframing.
RESOURCES
- TRIBAL LEADERSHIP: Leveraging Natural Groups to Build a Thriving Organization. Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright. Collins Business. 2008.
- PEACEFUL MIND: Using Mindfulness & Cognitive Behavioral Psychology to Overcome Depression. John McQuaid and Paula Carmona. New Harbinger Publications. 2004.
- THINK LIKE A MONK: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Everyday. Jay Shetty. Simon & Schuster. 2020.
- THE BOOK OF JOY: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World. His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, with Douglas Abrams. Avery Publications. 2016.
- “Unless, of course….” is a phrase I learned from a client many years ago. It is now installed in my heart and mind, and often called upon.
- Living Joyfully while the Environment Collapses. That’s the title of my series of article on the 8 Pillars of Joy. Follow me for updates.
In 2020, I wrote the book LOVING MOTHER EARTH: Integrating Environmentalism and Spirituality. You can find commentaries about the big ideas in this little book at www.loving-mother-earth.com, and here on Medium. You can purchase my book on Amazon, and know that if you do, $5.00 from every purchase is donated to The Sierra Club.
The cover of my little book of big ideas.
Thank you for Loving Mother Earth. Follow me and I will follow you if, in truth, you are passionate about integrating environmentalism with spirituality. After all, we are in this together.
