The Story We Tell Our Self

The story we tell our self about our circumstances is the story that counts. If you're going through a rough patch and you start to beat yourself up because you're not as perfect as you wish you were, chances are you're not going to feel better about yourself nor will you feel at peace.

We are all imaginative and we all have the ability to create a story for ourselves that uplifts the soul. Let's just look at one example:

Susan wakes up with heart palpitations and severe fatigue yet she tries to do all of her chores in the morning only to collapse into a chair. For weeks she bemoaned this setback, blaming the doctors for not having found the magic pill that would cure her of her malaise. I suggested to her in a session that instead of pushing the river that she try to do less strenuous things in the morning and save the running around for later in the afternoon when her energy comes back. To take the morning time to mediate, do gentle stretching, enjoy nature and let her body rest knowing that eventually things would balance out.

Instead of her story being, "My body is finking out on me -- I can't do what I need to do" change the story to "I am being kind to my body and letting it rest in the mornings. I am taking time out to nurture the part of me that needs attention."

Things happen in life that we don't count on -- but the story we weave around ourselves can make all the difference in how we navigate storms.