Yesterday is Not Today Unless We Choose It To Be
Tell a new story, one that you love.
Has this ever happened to you?
As you read a book, it transported you to the time and place it was happening.
Maybe it was so effective that you were irritated when someone interrupted you, making you return to the “real” world?
As an author, I hope that is exactly what happens when you read one of my books. But. When you put the book down, the story is over.
Yes, you may have a memory of being there, a flavor, a feeling, but you know it isn’t real. This can also happen with movies, a TV show, a dream.
And it should, and can be, what happens with the stories of our daily lives.
But it often doesn’t.
Instead of becoming a distant memory—either a good memory that we enjoy or a bad one that we learn from—we get stuck in the story.
This can happen when we tell the story over and over again, to ourselves and others. When our emotions tell the story instead of our hearts.
Perhaps the story is something like one of these:
I know they cheated.
Covid ruined my life.
Everything changed without my permission.
I was terrified when that happened.
My heart was broken.
The more we relive those stories, the more real they become. The more stuck we get, the deeper the rut becomes, making it harder and harder to get out.
And, we become even more stuck when someone validates us for the story.
But. They are not real—any more than the book, the movie, the TV show, or the dream.
And. They run our lives.
So let me interrupt your stories. My stories. And ask, “Is this the life you want to live? Or would you like to write a new story?”
We are always given the opportunity to do just that. The universe is constantly expanding, and life today is constantly expanding.
Either we go with it, or we retreat into an old story.
Almost everything we did two years ago is not how it is today. Things update. Things move. Things stop working. New things appear that we have to learn how to do or live with.
We can either choose to stay behind or move with the times.
Although being stuck in a story may feel more comfortable, we know it’s not. But moving on can be difficult if we are in a story about ourselves, about how we can’t.
Stories like:
I don’t, can’t, won’t, understand technology.
AI will ruin the world.
Things were better in the past.
I’m too old to learn about this new world.
I’m grieving for what is no longer.
But all those are stories. Memories of something that happened before. And all memories are faulty. Every time we tell a story or relive a memory, we alter it.
Which makes all stories just that. Stories.
And because it is a story, it can be rewritten. We can consciously choose to write, live, a better one.
Except often we don’t.
Perhaps we love the story we tell because we get something out of it, or maybe we love the story we tell because it elicits sympathy or understanding from others.
Eventually, we must move on, or our stories will bury us, and we will only live half a life.
Yes, leaving a story can be difficult, especially when we try to do it alone.
Instead, perhaps find a group of people, small, large, whichever suits you, that have chosen to expand, not contract. A group without judgment so you can safely rewrite your stories together. A group that has chosen to shed skin like the snake and emerge like the butterfly.
Sign up for classes, or ask for help from someone who knows something you want to learn.
Rewrite with others. It’s much easier.
Remember that not only is life just one big story, but our memories of it are constantly changing.
Let memories hang out in the background like your favorite book, but choose not to believe that the story or the memories are your life.
They aren’t. Even the new story you write won’t be your life.
Good writers are constantly striving to write better books, and in the same way, we can constantly strive to write better life stories.
And when we choose to align our new story within the Principle of Love and its attributes, like kindness, curiosity, and joy, we will be much closer to living the unending, every expanding Life that is always beautiful.
The Perception Circle is a group constantly rewriting stories for the better. Join The Waiting List. We will open for the year in November.
Yes. Yes. Yes. 🙌🏻.