Sunday Story…The Stories We Tell

Someone once said…”Man is a meaning making machine.” In other words we tell ourselves stories about what happened and then we make it mean something to us. This is integral to our experience as humans. I have my stories; the state I live in has stories, so does the country, so does my church or spiritual community, so does all the other people who look like me.

Stories make the world go around. But that is all they are…stories. Just made up narratives to give my life and the events of my life meaning. I remember having a conversation with my mother a while back about something that happened to me when I was a child. I shared it with her as a profound event in my life. She had no recollection of the occurrence even after I shared the entire thing. No recollection whatsoever. This is not terribly surprising since the stories I tell myself are my stories made up to give my life meaning.

Here’s my point…these stories are going to be told but the outside world doesn’t care. Gravity exerts the same force, the virus is going to infect people without regard, and the sun will rise and set no matter what the story is I am telling myself. These outside forces have no memories or stories, no knowledge or awareness of the force they are exerting. They just are.

So your stories are good and important…to you. They are part of the way you navigate the world. But for the rest of creation they just don’t matter.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…New Normal

Every now and then, in the course of human events, there is a shift. For those in the middle of the shift, it is imperceptible. But when viewed through the lens of history it is an obvious tectonic change. It becomes a time when everything becomes different.

This is that time. If we continue to hold on to the “way things were” and “getting back to normal” we may be consigned to the historical trash-heap doomed for extinction. Don't be one of those Luddites who refuse to see what is happening right in front of their face and is obvious in hindsight.

We can miss all the opportunities that are opening due to this shift. We can choose to open our eyes, minds, and hearts to the “what is possible” in this new paradigm. Or not, but it is a choice available to us…new ways of education, new ways to do business, new ways to find happiness, fulfillment, and connection. Or you can be the old guy on the corner wondering what happened to the perfect world of his memory.

Don’t be the frog getting cooked in increasingly hotter water. Hop on out and find a new pond!

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…It’s Not You

We have all experienced rejection. You made an offer and the other person said No, thanks. You pitched a proposal and they weren’t interested. You asked her out and she said no.

Most of us take rejection personally. The person rejected me. They don’t like me. There’s something wrong with me. I am a failure.

In fact, rejection rarely has anything to do with you personally. They didn’t like the offer, weren’t interested in the project or didn’t have the money. Your proposal came at the wrong time, they already got what they needed, or it wasn’t the right fit. You asked her/him out not realizing they weren’t available or available at that time or weren’t interested in general (not you specifically).

None of those things have anything to do with you personally. You asked and someone said no. when you asked your mother for a cookie and she said no was your ego crushed? Of course not. You wanted a cookie but you weren’t invested in the cookie. You’ll ask again anyway.

Stop taking everything so personally. It isn’t about you, it’s about them. But keep asking, keep pitching, and one day the answer will be yes. But don’t take that personally either!

Behold the turtle. He gets nowhere without sticking his neck out.

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

Sunday Story…Commit Now

You’ve decided. You are finally going to do it. You are all in.

But wait…what about…maybe I should rethink…there’s probably a better way/thing/something…

Look once you’ve made the commitment the time is now. Now is the time to not look back…only forward. We look ahead, not down, not up, ahead…eyes on the prize.

If you think you might fail you will. If you think you are going to fall you will. If you think you want to back out, just back out and cancel your commitment. A half a commitment is no commitment at all.

You’ve made the commitment but you haven’t jumped off the cliff yet. It’s that first step into the abyss that solidifies the commitment. Gravity is going to take over and you are going to be screaming towards your destination…like it or not.

If you have ever tried skydiving you know what I am talking about. You decided to do it. You made an appointment and paid the money. You got the training, put on the jumpsuit and got in the plane. You committed but you aren’t all in until the moment when you step out of that plane at 13,000+ feet above the earth. In that moment your commitment is real and tangible. There is no turning back, no changing your mind, no second thoughts.

How about you take that level of commitment into your next venture?

John Mariotti
www.crossfitodyssey.com
www.suinday-stories.blogspot.com
775-338-2412

Sunday Story…Expertise

We live in an age of immediate information. Need to know who won the 2004 Olympic gold medal in the men’s 100-meter dash? Google it. Want to know how to change an electrical plug at home? YouTube it. You have a whole universe of knowledge at your fingertips. It isn’t hard to use and it isn’t difficult to get instructions on just about anything.

That being said, there is also a massive amount of misinformation, wrong information, and just plain untruths on the internet. Just because it’s on the internet, or Google or YouTube doesn’t make it true or right.

Think about it…would you really want to live or work in a building designed and built by some guy who watched a YouTube on the subject? Fly in a plane? How about surgery? I have to admit I would prefer an expert for all 3 of those things.

There is a value in expertise. Many things are hard, really hard. They require practice, study, and attention. You don’t become a surgeon by reading a book or watching YouTube.

Even hairdressers get trained.

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412