Sunday Story...What's Next

Sunday Story…What’s Next?

I received a comment after last weeks story (go to http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/ to read it) about what to do next? Basically it went like this…you’re right I have some stuff I have been dragging around that isn’t serving me. But what am I supposed to do about it. It isn’t like I can donate it to Goodwill or just flush it down the toilet! You know what my answer was right? Yes, I went there…I guess you will have to read the next Sunday Story! And here we are.
SO…What’s Next with MY Stuff

Looking around…at My Stuff, I see a number of things that I really need to lose, shift, change or transform. And I see some stuff I really like, stuff I want to keep, stuff that is serving me. Let’s face it, My Stuff is comfortable. I like MY Stuff, after all it is mine! But if you want to get rid of some of your MY Stuff here is a way in 3 easy steps!

Step One: Take a look. Get some perspective and do some introspection. Get really, really honest with yourself. Here is an interesting little exercise…write down 10 things about yourself that you don’t think anyone knows and that you don’t really want people to know. Now, take a look at the list. The things are not important. What is important is WHY you don’t want anyone to know about them. Is it shame, guilt, fear of judgment? Where are those feelings coming from? What is the root of those feelings? That is where your MY Stuff is coming from. When you were 4 years old and you got your hand slapped for some infraction and you created “rule” that has informed your life choices since then. Does that rule really serve you? Really? For instance…When I was about 14 I wrote a poem about death and dying, about water and drowning and how it might feel to be dead. You would have thought I had just written the Communist Manifesto. Counseling, conversations with parents, teachers, etc. all ensued. I decided that telling people what I really felt was not such a good idea. And even deeper than that, I decided that being creative, especially in writing was a really bad idea. This served me in ways over the years. In some ways it served to keep me safe in places where it would have been dangerous to express myself. But the cost was the stifling of creativity that injured my soul every time I did it. SO…not really serving me.

Step Two: Figure out how to re-frame your story. Give people the benefit of the doubt, they are most often doing what they think is right and in your best interest. Create a new story around the event. You can’t change the “what’s so” but you can change the “what’s it mean”. So I was 14 and I wrote something that was provocative (hard to believe, I know) and threatening and scary and yes, I really did wonder what it might be like to drown and be dead. My parents were worried (and rightfully so). They reacted in a way that made sense to them. They did not do it to stifle me, or to create a schism in my psyche. So instead of saying to me that writing and being self expressed is not safe, my story now, is that when I write I elicit strong and powerful reactions in people. My writing is emotional and meaningful and creates a visceral response in my readers. See how much more powerful that story is than the other one. The one that has me running and hiding from my talent? This story empowers me and honors the talent and purpose I am here to fulfill.

Step Three: Give your old story a send off with gratitude and blessings. It served you and kept you over these last few years. Forgive anyone who needs to be forgiven around the event. Love the young you that made the “rules” in the face of incomplete and immature knowledge.

Start doing the thing(s) that your previous rules would not let you do. Take baby steps, be gentle with yourself as you rediscover a part of yourself that has been buried and protected for all this time. A large part of what you are reading these days is a result of this process. 5 years ago this effort would have been impossible. I would not have allowed myself the freedom to expose my thoughts and emotions in this way. By changing my story, by letting go of MY Stuff, I found my voice, my muse that propels me, and I healed that hole in my soul that needs to write and be self expressed.

Are you willing to let go of your stuff in 3 easy steps? There is the blueprint to start re-building the authentic and transparent self the world is waiting for. Pretty simple isn’t it? Here is the small print (no, my attorney didn’t write it!)---this is not an easy process, you will be scraping layers of gunk and debris away from parts of you, parts you have hidden for some time. This may leave you raw and irritated. The people around you might not understand why you are doing this. Side Effects may include soul retrieval, self love, return of playful joy and a childish giggle.

On the other hand…you can keep it the way it is (not!) Look folks; the world is changing, shifting, evolving. We need to find our purpose, the purpose we were put her to do and then live into that purpose. Your job is to live into that purpose. And it is going to be very difficult to do that if you are dragging all those old stories and beliefs around behind you. You get to decide who and what you are. You CAN change the past by changing the story you are telling about it. And you can live into the future the same way. Create your life by creating the stories you tell about it!

Subscribe to my blog at http://sunday-stories.blogspot.com/ . For personal focus coaching, goal setting, physical, nutritional, and emotional transformation, and storytelling contact me at jmariotti@gbis.com.

Namaste

John
“Teaching Focus, Inspiring Transformation”