2. Our lives are surrounded with bad
experiences and challenging situations.
3. We could say
something to make
you FEEL better but
that rarely solves
anything. What we will
do is introduce a
strategy that will
radically change the
outcomes in your life.
4. Our current situations
are framed by the
experiences we faced in
our past, giving it
context or meaning or a
frame. Therefore, if you
change the frame-the
context-the meaning
changes instantly.
5. One of the most
effective tools for
personal change is
learning how to put
the best frames on
any experience. This
process is called
reframing.
6. A Story of Unusual Vision
A touching Pulitzer Prize-winning article by
Alice Steinbach illustrates the power of
reframing. It appeared in The Baltimore Sun in
1985 titled, “A Boy of Unusual Vision,” about a
young boy named Calvin Stanley.
7. Then 10-year-old Calvin rides a bike, plays
video games, plays baseball, goes to school,
everything a typical boy his age would do.
Except see.
A Story of Unusual Vision
8. How could this little
boy do all these things
while many people in
the same situation
would be paralyzed by
depression and just
give up?
9. It was his mother. She
took every experience
Calvin has-experiences
that others would have
classified as
“limitations”-and
REFRAMED them in
Calvin’s mind.
10. She remembers the
first day Calvin asked
why he was blind. “I
explained he was born
that way and it was
nobody’s fault.
11. He asked, ‘Why me?’ I
said, ‘I don’t know why,
Calvin. Maybe there’s a
special plan for you.’”
Then she sat her son
down and told him,
“You’re seeing, Calvin.
You’re just using your
hands instead of your
eyes. And remember,
there’s nothing you can’t
do.”
12. One day, Calvin was
sad because he
realized he’d never see
his mother’s face. But
Mrs. Stanley knew what
to tell her only child. “I
said, Calvin, you can
see my face.
13. You can see it with your
hands and by listening
to my voice, and you
can tell more about me
that way than somebody
who can use his eyes.’”
Calvin wants to become
a computer programmer
and someday design
programs for the blind.
14. The world is full of
Calvins and we need
more people who are
adept reframes like Mrs.
Stanley.
