The Story We Tell

Everyone has a story they tell themselves as a reason for where they are. A lot of times these stories are based on unfavorable circumstances. You could be bullied as a child, abused, struggled with weight, have a speech impediment, struggle to make friends, have an addiction, or anything else you latch onto as a story that causes you to limit yourself. Whatever story we end up telling ourselves we carry it into adulthood. We end up looking for evidence to support this story for the rest of our lives. The moment we realize we can take back the pen and rewrite the story to our book of life, we are able to fill ourselves with self-empowerment. In doing so we stop living a life from the past and start living our current life.

If you were abused as a child and in your adult life you find yourself in abusive relationships, you are reinforcing the story you tell yourself about how you do not deserve love or that you deserve to be mistreated. You tell yourself this is what you deserve because your brain has spent so many years subconsciously building this idea. This pattern follows you with any story, it does not have to be “abuse.” You could be harboring an extra twenty pounds on your frame because you have always been a “chubby” person and are unable to make the final push to change. The extra weight has subconsciously been a part of who you are and fills the pages of the story of your life. These stories we tell ourselves take over our lives like a vine taking over a tree. They control us instead of the contrary.

Once you have an understanding of what your story is, you can fill the thousands of pages in your book of life with your current life. It can be hard to rewire the connections in your brain to stop defaulting to the limiting beliefs and subconscious beliefs you have defaulted to for years. Introducing new habits and forcing yourself to overcome the self-limitation are helpful ways to stop living in the past and start living in the present.

Your life story should not be determined by what has happened in the past. The past is the past. You can change your present and the future once you take control of the story that has been holding you hostage. The story you tell yourself matters. Make it the right story.