This post is really more of a question.
Are the stories you believe about yourself really yours? Or are you simply stuck playing a role in someone else's story?
Think about it. Let's make up a story that resonates with a lot of us... If only I were in better shape, my life would look so different. I know I've felt this in the past. If I were a little thinner, I'd be able to stand stronger in my power. Or, if I were a little thinner, people would pay more attention to what I had to say. Such incredibly ludicrous thoughts, but these were the stories I was swimming around in.
And then I stopped, and tried to remember when they started. Where did they come from? Were these really my beliefs? And the answer (at least to the last question) was no. I was taught - at a young age - that physical beauty defines a person's worth. This played an incredible role in shaping my teens through to my 40's, but it wasn't my story. I never believed this about anyone other than myself. I never for one second judged someone's worth by their looks, but I certainly judged myself in that way. It was absolutely something that I had to analyze, work through, and move beyond. But, in truth, the story was never mine. I had simply stepped into someone else's ideals that were shaped by their own upbringing or experiences. Maybe the story wasn't truly theirs either, but one that had been passed down to them and they were stuck in a lead role. That is where we create change. We have there power to decide whether or not we play a role any longer.
If you were an actor, and went to an audition where you were told that you could have the part, but that once you accepted it, you would have to be that person for the rest of your life. Would you do it? Now ask yourself how many times you havedone it? How many times have you stepped into a belief someone held about you and then owned it for way too long?
The power is in recognizing that these stories are not of our own making. They are someone else's, and we can walk away from them. It's surprisingly easy when you give up ownership. When you seriously understand that these beliefs were never yours to begin with...Freedom!
I invite you to sit with some of your stories and try and trace them back to their beginnings. Stop playing a role in someone else's story. The story you belong in is so much more powerful, and the world is waiting for you to take the lead!