reframing your emotions

 

The Baltimore Ravens were a big underdog in the first round of the NFL playoffs.  They were playing with a back-up quarterback against the Cincinnati Bengals, one of the most talented teams in football.  However, in the fourth quarter, the game was tied, and the Ravens were two yards away from scoring the leading touchdown.  At this point, Tyler Huntley, the Ravens’ back-up quarterback, tried to leap over the pile to score.

As Huntley stretched out his arms, a Bengals player knocked the ball out of his hands, picked up the ball, and ran it in for a touchdown.  Instead of the Ravens leading by seven, they were now behind by seven. That wound up being the final score and the end of the Ravens’ season.

As the game ended, my friend asked me what I thought John Harbaugh, the Ravens’ coach, said to his quarterback.  I told him that Harbaugh probably realized there was no reason to emphasize the final play.  During the season, you are going to make good plays and bad plays.  What was important for the team was what would Huntley do the next time he was put in that position.

What Harbaugh probably did was call the team’s video coordinator to put together clips of all the great plays Huntley had made to get the Ravens to that point.  The goal, of course, was to restore the quarterback’s confidence so that he would perform at a high level the next season.

When facing adversity, it is easy to fall.  What is more important is how you bounce back.  Take a moment to think about all your successes that helped get you to where you are today.  Do not live in the negative world. Rather, reframe your situation.  Instead of thinking, “This is the worst I have ever been,” change your language into “This is extremely challenging.”

The challenge for all of us is to make sure that we neutralize our negative emotions in a way that allows us to find future successes.