‘We tell ourselves stories in order to live’
– Joan Didion
Our minds are wired to create a cohesive narrative out of the apparent chaos of life. Our stories tell us who we are, what we value and what we’re capable of. These stories not only bring meaning to our life, but also, create the life we’re experiencing.
What stories are you telling yourself? Do they reflect your infinite potential to adapt and evolve to become the best version of yourself, or are they negative, self-limiting or self-defeating? Are you even aware of the narrative you’re telling?
The tales we tell ourselves become the central themes of our life. Some of these stories are conscious, but many more are subconscious; ideas that were formed in the early years of our life playing on constant repeat, like faulty software running the system.
In his wonderful book, The Biology of Belief, Bruce Lipton says that the subconscious mind is around a million times more powerful than the conscious mind. No wonder our attempts at improving our lives are so often doomed for failure. Think about it… we can wake up every morning and set all the wonderful intentions in the world, but if our subconscious mind is telling us a story about how crap or incapable we are at this or that, what do you thinks going to happen? Self-sabotage that’s what. With the subconscious in all of its awesome power running the show, your life will fit perfectly into the limiting story it’s telling.
When I first learnt to meditate I started to notice this incessant white noise going on in the background of my mind. As I began to tune into it I realised it was this awful version of me, whinging, swearing, and beating up on myself. In this moment I had the strange realisation that I was in some sort of abusive relationship with myself. As shocking as this realisation was, the very act of witnessing the voice in my head, was the first step toward its inevitable demise.
Over time, and with a consistent meditation practice, I realised I didn’t like the story I was telling myself, so I changed the story and as a result, I changed my life.
