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The Stories We Tell Ourselves

March 20, 2016 by Mark Shepard

The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Spring?

It’s been warm all week here in the Albany NY area… Definitely SPRING like.

And yet today, on the official “first day of Spring”

It was 20 degrees F.  Chilly.

And that prompts me to reflect on the differences between our expectations and what actually IS.

The rest of creation from squirrels to redwing blackbirds basically take things as they are. No complaining. No whining. They just deal with the cards they’ve been dealt and go about the business of adapting and surviving.

You never hear a Redwing Blackbird complaining about how cold it is in March. You never hear them say, “Well It’s just MY luck! I migrated all this way from Florida to find a mate and start a family and it’s just too cold up here. This ALWAYS happens to me. Bah humbug!” NOPE! They just keep singing. [Here’s your daily Transformation Tune BTW]

We humans tend to INTERPRET the world and events and make things MEAN something.

In other words we immediately begin to tell stories about what is happening OUTSIDE ourselves to explain what is going on INSIDE.

I’ve found it helpful in my own life to ask myself, “Hey Mark, What are you MAKING THIS MEAN?”

In other words much of our pain and “suffering” comes from how we INTERPRET events.

In the process of interpreting, we necessarily have to DELETE, DISTORT and GENERALIZE what we perceive in order to make sense of it and make it fit our “BOX” or “Label” or “story” of “reality”.

And none of it is actually “true”… because we are the ones who are explaining things according to our level of perception.

For example: I used to have a difficult time performing because if someone got up and left in the middle of one of my songs, I would tell myself that, “They hated my music.” or “I must of said something that offended them” or this really, really self defeating one: “See? Nobody wants to hear MY music. They just want to hear songs they’ve heard on the radio.”

The truth is I had no idea why that person left. I could have told a different story or two…

Like, “They had to go to the bathroom…” or, “They just got a text from the baby sitter because she can’t figure out how to work the remote control of the TV…”, or “that person must be a doctor on call…”

So that’s the “mind read” thing we all do to some extent, where we delete the positive interpretations and instead focus only on the negative ones that make us feel bad.

And then we often generalize that “Nobody wants to….” or it “Always works out against me…” or “This ALWAYS happens to me…”  so whenever you hear yourself using Always, or Never, it’s time to challenge your generalizations.

So today. Your Assignment. Should you choose to accept it.

Tell yourself better stories.
Turn the “villains” or “bad luck” in your life into your “Beloved Teachers” who are playing a required role in the exciting adventure plot of the movie of your life.

And while we’re at it, let’s tell the story of the warm weather to come…

Let’s generalize that SPRING ALWAYS COMES!
Even though we mays still have some cold weather, IT ALWAYS TURNS WARMER!

I noticed the other day that the Redwing Black birds are back.

And things are DEFINITELY thawing (look at all this delightful MUD!)
and I even heard the Spring Peepers…

so Let’s tell stories of our OWN Spring. Our OWN renewal! Our Own times of growth and expansion! Remember, we get what we focus on. (and BTW I ain’t just reminding YOU! We AWL need to hear this. Even Moi.)

COW-A-BUNG-AH!

Here’s your Transformation Tune for the day to support your Daily Mind Mastery Message or play it up above with the handy player (and you can download it for free too):

Song #415 Blackbirds Are Back!

Peace out,

Mark

The really important thing is just to be fully aware that you can realize the change you’re looking for…

And here’s how

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Filed Under: Articles, Daily Mind Mastery Tip, Focus, Overcoming Obstacles, Present Moment Awareness, Progress, Self Hypnosis, Transformation Songs

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