I was asked: “How are you?”
I responded: “I’m great! How are you?”
And then I listened to the response.
In this 10-second exchange with someone this week, I saw two extremely powerful insights.
Insight #1: We look to our stories to determine how we’re doing
When I was asked “How are you?”, I paused ever-so-slightly to inquire within. How am I, really?
Mostly, we look to our current stories about ourselves and our lives to determine how we're doing.
If I’ve currently got an empowering or positive story in my mind, I say that I’m great! If I’ve got a busy, stressful story in my mind, I say that I’m stressed or harried. And so on...
So when someone asks us “How are you?”, we mostly look to our stories to tell us how we’re doing.
Insight #2: I create that I’m great.
For years now I’ve had a few key practices that give me the space to release any stories or feelings that would otherwise trap me in a stuck way of thinking or feeling (Complaints, Excuses, and What Ifs are three of these practices).
My morning routine utilizes one of these practices to empty my mind and ground my body to give me room to create who I am going to be each day - and with practice, I can now create that space within and create who I am in most moments throughout my day.
And one of these is who I typically create myself as:
I am unconditionally in love with life.
I am ease, enjoyment, and love.
I am courageous, creative, and empowered.
So when someone asks me how I’m doing, it’s become automatic that I inquire within, I transform any disempowering stories about myself or my life, and I re-create who I am.
And, yes, that leaves me feeling pretty great!
It is indeed our stories that determine for most of us how we're doing in life. Where most of us get stuck is in trying to change the circumstances of our lives to change the story. If we have a busy, frustrating, or stressful story running the show, we try to change our circumstances to change our story.
What if instead we were able to transform those old, disempowering stories about our lives and create new stories without even changing the circumstances? Stories that freed us, empowered us, and gave us agency and insight to live a great life?
Our created stories are just as real, if not more real, as the ones we already let dictate our feelings about our lives. The difference is that WE create our new stories, whereas we inherited the old ones.
What if we could change the story we have about our lives and our circumstances - same life, same circumstances, but a whole new way of looking at it all - and give ourselves access to the type of freedom, creativity, and power to love life and be empowered no matter what?
Thanks so much for reading. ❤️
P.S. If you'd like to explore the liberating power of altering your stories about yourself, your circumstances, and others, set up a free conversation with me.
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