My father was a storyteller. It seemed that if he wasn’t telling a story, he hardly had anything to say. It was on his lap, by his side, sitting across from him at the table, listening to his stories that I learned how the world worked and how to understand people.
Stories not only help us make sense of the world; they help us define who we are. When we share our past with others, we link events together in a narrative — a story. My father had his story. I have mine. You have yours.
We all can experience an event, but our retellings of the same facts will differ. The story will change based on what we brought to the event and how we interpret what occurred. Though I might retell my father’s stories, my voice changes those stories making them my stories now, not his. The same is so about the stories we tell about ourselves. Everyone experiences us differently. So how do we know the true story about ourselves?
In telling our life story, we have to draw our own conclusions about what is true.
Refuse to decide and we give our future to people who don’t have to live our lives. We let others choose who we are and what we can be. The fact is that we can, should, and have to decide for ourselves.
Be irresistible,
Liz
Put Your Mind to It
It’s never too late to edit your life story. You’re the only one who can write the true story about yourself. Take the time to decide what are the best true stories about you. Send the out-of-date stories about you back to the past.