Let the Story Propel You
My journal is a spiral 8-1/2” x11” notebook with a pretty cover (nothing fancy).
I draw in it. I write in it. I blog in it. I put treasured notes from friends and family in it. I record conversations that happen at the grocery store. I bring it with me everywhere that I remember to bring it.
Right now, it is sitting on my lap like a trusted friend. (And I was delighted to take this picture of the first page which I share with you here!) My journal is a place where I create and play and cry and laugh. It is the place that I record the inspirations that come to me. The most treasured of these come to me from Source/Spirit/God.
In it, I express my heart, my pain, my joy, my lessons, my hopes, my dreams. In it is my story. The story is the entirety.
The story is not just the joy – or just the pain. The story is the entirety. Embrace your story.
Find the gifts within the sorrows. Experience the joy with presence and let it lift you.
Telling the story is important. Writing it down is important. Writing it down allows us to look back on the story. It gives us perspective on the journey. Writing it down helps us to sift through the details and decide what to keep and what to let go of.
On the topic of leaving stories behind and re-writing our “scripts,” you may be interested to read one of my earlier blogs: “How to Write a Script in 3 Easy Steps.”
I attended a life storytelling conference last month. The most surprising takeaway for me was that I was empowered to leave stories behind. The stories I left behind were the ones I had carried with me for decades. They were the stories that weighed me down. It was time to let them go. It was time to look forward.
Stories have great value. And I am not saying that I will never tell the stories that now propel me forward. When I hear your stories, I am inspired by your strength and your wisdom. I learn from hearing your stories ~ in the same way that I learn from expressing my own.
We all have a story. The story is the most important part. Express the story in its entirety ~ somewhere.
Find the hidden gifts and lessons within the story.
And then, let the story propel you.
© Kathy Sturgis, Ph.D. Kathy is founder of Refreshment Zone and is an organizational and personal development specialist with a doctorate in communication. Contact kathy@refreshmentzone.com for more information on motivational programs.