The Power of the Stories We Tell

Though we may not always feel that way, each and every one of us is enormously powerful. 

The stories that we tell ourselves determine what we believe to be possible for us – what we deserve out of our lives.

We are our stories.

We are our truths.

We are what we believe ourselves to be.

Sometimes, when we are trying to get to where we want to be in our lives – and see ourselves the way that we desire to see ourselves – re-authoring is required. Re-authoring is a practice that asks us to examine the stories that we have been telling ourselves. The stories that have been keeping us small. The stories that tether us to a life that, if we were being really honest, no longer fits. The stories that are constructed by a set of rules that are not our own.

Re-authoring is not about denying our past – it is about throwing the doors open to welcome our highest selves and our unimaginably bright future. 

When we tell our stories, we get to know who we are.

When we tell our stories, we begin to realize how deep and wise our emotions are.

When we tell our stories, we can see our inner criticism for what it truly is – a largely unconscious attempt to keep ourselves safe from the pain of what has already happened, from feeling alone, from feeling unloved.

When we tell our stories in the presence of a loving community, we provide ourselves with an opportunity to feel safe and loved for exactly who we are. We welcome all of our parts, and we allow ourselves to deeply belong.

Our stories are about what has happened to us. They are about our relationships to our bodies, our relationships to others, our relationship to our work. We are the sum of our parts. We embody our stories with every fiber. They dictate which parts of ourselves that we allow to be seen, loved, rewarded, promoted, and celebrated. Or not.

We cannot celebrate ourselves if we are unwilling or unable to accept that we are worthy, and for many, accepting that we are worthy requires drafting a new relationship to old wounds. It requires that we begin to see the beauty in what has not worked out, and have gratitude for our many mistakes.

Our mistakes are our teachers – allowing us to accumulate data about what our heart desires. They allow us to experience things as feeling really good or not so good.

When we begin to notice what feels really good, we can begin to chase after it actively – welcoming more of it into our lives. 

Our spirits are just waiting to thrive. We are incredibly resilient. Our strength can be seen in the fact that we haven’t given up yet – we are still holding out hope that more might be possible for us.

I know that it might feel easier to keep living the way that you have been living. 

And yet, here you are. You are reading this post. That is not an accident.

This blog does not attract women who have given up. 

It attracts women who are yearning to make peace with themselves.

Women who are brave.

Women who want to belong.

Women who want to feel loved.

Women who are deeply afraid and question their worth, but cannot deny the glimmer of hope that they feel in their hearts – that small voice that whispers: I am strong. I have something to contribute to this world. I am worth loving.

Women who crave the ability to put the fork down when they are full, find friendships filled with laughter and celebration, and conjure moments of truly belonging, truly feeling heard and loved.

I know that all of this is possible for you. 

I know that my people will read these words and feel refilled, rejuvenated, and covered in goose-bumps. 

I know that, for my people, these words are a call to action. 

I feel refilled, rejuvenated, covered in goose bumps, and called to action when I think about you beginning to re-author the stories that no longer serve you.

The stories that we tell ourselves are powerful.

And yet, when we start to think about them, we realize that they are, in fact, just stories. 

Once we realize that, it then becomes possible to realize that we could, theoretically, tell ourselves other stories – stories that build us up instead of break us down, stories that let the love shine in, stories that make space for our own beauty.

What story will you tell yourself today?