Over the course of the past week, we have had a lot of adversity thrown our way in the Pacific Northwest where I live. Due to a high heat index and poor air quality due to the many forest fires we have been experiencing in the Pacific Northwest, we have had many contests and practices cancelled or rescheduled. The constant uncertainty of whether we can or should practice outdoors or hold contests has been difficult for many to deal with.
It is easy during times like this to only think of ourselves and comparing our current situation to what is “normal” or how things could be better and focus on what is wrong. As humans, we are hardwired for threat detection, it’s what allowed our ancestors to survive wolves, floods and other maladies. But it also means we focus on what is bad much more than we focus on what is good. As a matter of fact, we tend to ignore what is good over time due to a phenomenon known as hedonic adaptation.
“Compared to what?” is a phrase I like to inject to my thought process when contemplating a current negative situation. When thinking, “woe is me,” I find it helpful to think about how my current situation could be worse. We all have been affected and saddened by the Eagle Creek Fire in the Columbia Gorge but, when one thinks about the devastation in Houston, Florida and the Caribbean, due to hurricanes, as well as how the lives of people living in the path of the fire are affected, the inconveniences and setbacks of the last week seem less important.
The Stoics had a practice for gaining perspective and gratitude called negative visualization. This is the idea of taking something that we have, and imagine that it has been taken from us, lost, hurt, etc. An example of this is that I may sometimes lament that my house is not as nice as my brother’s but, if I think about what it would be like to lose it in a flood or fire, I am more thankful and appreciative of it.
Teaching student-athletes the practice of negative visualization may be difficult, although I do think we can introduce them to the concept. Another way to instill a “Compared to What?” mentality is to have them create a perspective poster. The idea is to find images such as pictures of lost loved ones, 9/11 clippings, photos of people who have overcome tremendous odds to be successful and create a poster that will help remind us that compared to these things, anything we will face in the athletic arena is simple by comparison.
Here is a quick video by Brian Cain describing the process that Ole Miss Baseball went through to create their perspective posters that you may find helpful.
https://youtu.be/goslOhtmvQg
If you are interested in learning more about negative visualization or Stoic Philosophy in general, I highly recommend the books A Guide to the Good Life and The Obstacle is the Way.
A little different but I think a quick and interesting read is this blog post by Mr. Money Mustache on hedonic adaptation as it applies to our possessions. Mr. Money Mustache is a frugality blogger but I think what he writes about in this post is applicable to other areas of our lives as well.
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