Emotional Inf lexibility 127
your ability to manage the demands of a situation. W hen
used correctly and in appropriate contexts, reappraisal typi-
cally results in positive emotional and physiological
responses (Gross 1998). For example, you may think that
traveling by plane is inherently more dangerous than travel-
ing by car, especially because plane crashes tend to be more
catastrophic and newsworthy than car crashes. However,
the risk of being in an automobile accident is vastly higher
than the risk of being in an airplane accident. The calculated
lifetime risk of dying in a motor vehicle accident is 1 in 112,
whereas the risk of dying in a commercial airplane crash is 1
in 96,566 (National Safety Council 2015). Reappraising the
situation once you know the relative safety of air travel may
help you regulate your anxiety and allow you to feel more at
ease while f lying. Alternatively, you could try to reappraise
your thoughts about your ability to manage the demands
imposed on you by f lying (for example, thinking that you
are capable of managing your emotions while f lying).
Practice Take a moment to identif y two or three current fears,
worries, or stressors. Now, try your best to reframe each situation by
identif ying a positive or neutral aspect of the situation. For example,
if you recently had an argument with a family member, instead of
dwelling on the content of the argument, use this as an opportunity
to identif y ways to improve your communication or think about
how to avoid such an argument in the future. If it’s difficult to reap-
praise a particular event or situation, imagine how you might view
your current anxiety a year from now or think of how things might
be worse (for example, times may be tough, but you likely aren’t
going hungry, you have a roof over your head, and you have access
to health care). This should give you some distance from your cur-
rent problems, allowing your perspective to shift.