the stories we tell our selves
Do you sometimes feel like your voice isn’t as loud as you want it to be? Or you feel smaller than you actually are?
Do you feel stuck in a story?
Or maybe you feel like you're living in a small room within a giant palace of possibilities.
You know there are options but not only do you have no idea which way to go, you’re also reading the writings on the wall.
What do the writings say?
The clichés of your life that you hear over and over again. You’ve heard them so many times that you believe them.
They go something like this:
Quit while you're ahead.
I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.
What makes you think you're so special?
It takes money to make money.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
All good things come to an end.
Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
Better safe than sorry.
The grass is always greener.
Really??
Is the grass always greener? Does it even matter? Your grass is your grass and you better love that grass (or in my case in NYC, concrete).
And the apple? That thing can fly out of control in a thunderstorm and can land in another, even sunnier place.
And those chickens…you better count them.
Most of all, please don’t quit while you’re ahead. That is often just when you’ll begin to feel the energy of growth and life.
Over time, all of these clichés lead to one thing and one thing only.
Dysfunctional self-talk.
I agree with author Byron Katie who would suggest that when staring at the writing on your wall, you ask yourself these 4 questions:
- Is it true?
- Am I absolutely certain that it’s true?
- How do I react, and what happens, when I believe that thought?
- Who would I be without that story?
So I ask, who would you be without that story?
What version of you appears when you let it go?
What happens when you leave the cocoon, the small room, the quiet voice, and fly through the palace of possibilities?
I know this is not easy. But it’s the way forward. And that’s an opinion, not a cliché. :)
And I can help you shed it too. I love helping people work through this stuff, find the way, and restart (with a smile) on the path they’re meant to travel.
Send me a note or email me with your own cliché, and I’ll help you work through it.
With fierce love,
Alison
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