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The way that humans frame a scenario changes the personal outcome of that scenario. It changes how we react to the situations we find ourselves in. For example, if we already believe that a person is out to get us, we will be on edge and react to every movement done by someone else. This may be an extreme example but the same thing happens with stress.
The more something is built up in your head to be distressful, you’d better believe that it will be harder to start a task. As Millennials and Gen Z continue through adulthood they can easily get overwhelmed by the huge task we have in front of them, to take the system we were given and make it better for themselves. There is a struggle to find meaning in the everyday life tasks and can feel like the economy is so bad, no matter what work I go into “I can never make good enough money at it.” This mindset is really easy to get into. The frame of mind is, “look at how bad we have done as humans, something needs to change.” This is an accurate assessment but not a growth mindset. This makes our task feel so big. If instead, we can frame our thoughts, “We have grown a lot as a nation but we have a long way to go, and I get the opportunity to contribute to it.” As cheesy as that may sound I think the point comes across. Who better than us to make this world a better place? This framework moves our thoughts from a doom mindset to a growth mindset (Thibodeau et al., 2017).
In the same way, when we think about stress instead of feeling like stress is a bad thing we can use eustress. Instead of thinking that we will feel distressed when we get stressed, realizing that eustress is an option can give us the freedom to choose that feeling instead. It is our superpower. Eustress helps us to act. In this instance, we can use the mind-body connection to our advantage. We can trick our bodies from feeling anxious to excited. It is the same chemicals, we can use our bodies as instruments to change our minds, bodies, and environments (Island, 2020). When we feel that anxious distress, what is the normal bodily response? What is the bodily response when feeling excited for something good to happen? Use that eustress behavior when maybe you feel a stressed feeling, maybe over time the direction of the stress can swing towards eustress and the mental frame can change when it comes to feeling stressed. Check-in with yourself while going through the process (Tocino-Smith, 2020).
Language is how we think. Vygotsky believed that our minds live in the space between us, in the language shared between people (Vygotsky, 1934/1986). This belief can lead us to an understanding of how language shapes our thoughts. Entire pathways in the brain are developed due to language, it is an integral part of how we become who we are as humans within a culture (Rhode, 2018). We see this in the way we use different words to change the way we feel about something. Like using the metaphor she was a parrot vs. she was a hawk. Says two very different things about the person we are describing. What this metaphor does is changes the way we think about that thing, but it can also change the future connections we have to that subject as well (Thibodeau et al., 2017).
We can use writing as a means of getting reflected on our emotional experience. Our emotions are another sense and are meant to tell us things about our environments. It can be difficult to disassociate ourselves from them and look at them in an unbiased way. Writing can help with this, it takes us out of the situation and they lose their power when we can’t see them for what they are, just feelings (Pennebaker, 2018). It doesn’t matter what kind of emotion a person writes about. Write what you feel, what is important that one uses cognitive words. Meaning, the use of causal words, and insights words. Causal words would be words like: because, since, due to. Insight words would be words like: understand, realize, reflect. These words show an analysis of one’s thoughts and emotions. They have been proven to increase the health of the individuals who have used them (Pennebaker & Graybeal, 2001).
Language is powerful and impactful. We hear all the time from social media that negative self-talk is bad, so don’t do it. There is truth in those statements. Language shapes the way we think, speak and then act. It is crucial to how our brains analyze information. Words make us feel things, we react to those feelings. Our bodies are changed by words, and how we use them. Words are the ultimate implement for changing our perception and expanding eustress in our lives.
