We all have stories.
Some people have happy stories; other people have challenging stories that bring pain.
I’m sure you’re familiar with stories like: ‘Oh, my car wouldn’t start and now I’m running late for work, and then I spilled coffee in my lap, and it was all because my husband left the lights on in the car last night, and now we have a flat battery.’
Story, story, story.
She goes to work feeling sorry for herself, telling everyone her woes, for what?
So she can gain attention and sympathy from others.
That’s how she’s learnt how to connect, from having a story and making that story matter.
But as you know (I’ve said it a million times before) what you focus on, is what you create.
So the more you give life to this ‘poor me’ story, the more ‘poor me’ circumstances you unconsciously create for yourself.
We start to think the story is who we are; well we do have all this physical evidence to prove it!
Yet, we are not the story.
It is a tale we’ve made up about ourselves.
And it is these stories that become our limitations.
Take for example someone who is always sick; one health ailment after the next.
He/she is so caught up in being sick and living a life of disease, they fail to see that they can overcome the story.
There are options available for self-healing, no matter what the ailment.
Living in the story, clasping onto it until your hands lose colour, will not bring you happiness.
The happiness comes from letting go of the story, and realising we are more than the stories we tell ourselves about life, or about ourselves.
When you’re able to look at the story from an objective viewpoint and gather the lessons from that story, that’s when you free yourself of the pain.
Each story (or each unfortunate circumstance) plays out to show you something about yourself that needs resolution.
This is why many counselors take so long to get a result with a client, because there is a LOT of story telling.
Stories serve one purpose: To dish ups lessons that will help us grow so we create a yummier, more inspiring life for ourselves.
If you reflect on the lessons, instead of focusing on the story, you release yourself from the emotion of the story so you can move forward without the limitations.
This is what I share in the One-on-One Intensive and Remarkable Relationships programs I run.
We find the limiting belief that created the story, and clearing that so the story can no longer exist.
Why do we have so much trouble giving up these stories?
Because they give us something to whinge about.
They give us an opportunity to connect with others, albeit through misery and pain.
The great thing is, you can have more nourishing connections when you let go of the story.
So no matter how interesting or unique your story is, turn your attention instead to the storyteller: YOU.
Who are you when you let go of all the stories you hold so precious?
Who would you be if you forgot your stories and attuned yourself to who you really are at your core?
This week simply notice when you’re spinning a story and then ask yourself: Do I really need to own this story?
And what would I gain from letting it go?
Then please, share your findings below in the comments section.
If you’re set on making up stories, make them great, inspiring and full of delicious outcomes.