The Power of Your Story
A big shift occurred when, one by one, Gena’s kids started going off to college and finding their independence. One daughter married a great guy, and Gena was blissfully happy over this event, as well as her other children’s accomplishments. Simultaneously, however, her inner villain created a much different story and a negative emotional state. And when her husband, Nick, came to her and said, “We need to make some extra money to handle the escalating costs of college and our daughters’ weddings,” Gena’s old “story” gained power. This old story went something like this: At 60 years old I have done what I was put on this earth to do and was the best wife and mother I could be. I supported my family at every turn. But now that job has come to an end. Now I’m old, lonely, and with nothing of significance to do anymore. As my friends say, this is the time in life to wind down, to cherish the past, and to spend less so we can make it through until the end. I have no special skills, so hopefully I can make some extra money teaching more piano lessons, or maybe by being a greeter at the local department store. This is a youth-based society and there is no way an older woman like me could do anything of significance. Well, at least I did a great job as a mom. This story isn’t that bad, is it? Actually, it’s worse than bad— it’s horrific! This story made her feel depressed, that she had no worth, and that her best days were behind her. Even though it was fiction, she told it to herself so often that it started to become her reality. She said it so many times subconsciously that she actually believed it as fact—a common reaction. The emotions that result from the stories we tell our- selves every day create the life we are going to live. It’s impossible to boil down what I want to convey into one statement, but if anything comes close, this is it: Your emo- tions, your thoughts, and your “story” are your life. It is who we are at any moment, and we project those three things into everything we do. In Gena’s life, she was projecting, “I’m an old lady now, and I just can’t do much. Maybe this is the down part of my life, and I’ll just settle in.” And that was the life she was living until I helped create a pattern disruption. She
69
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker