Reframing Your Story
Do you compare your life to other’s in a way that provokes inner shame or guilt?
Our life’s journey is uniquely our own, and for most of us, we want to shove it under the rug, as if we are damaged goods. But, what if we could reframe our story, in a way that empowers us to learn and grow from each circumstance or struggle that we encounter.
In my soon-to-be-published book, Finding My Way, Facing My Journey with Courage, I embrace my story, and its purpose is to show others, by example, the importance of owning, and learning from, our story. I personally was able to break free from emotional self-sabotage, when I realized this important concept. Life just got easier as I learned to tap into my self-awareness, trusting that the choices I made would help me grow, which led to having the confidence to take leaps of faith into the unknown, even if it felt scary. It was in those leaps that helped me find a much broader perspective, one that would never be possible if I didn’t have faith in myself to take a shot. I learned that instead of obsessing over my roadblocks, I have the power to choose to find the meaning behind them, in order to grow. This process of self-discovery leads to more opportunities far beyond those walls of self-confinement. Those walls are put there by thinking small.
When we look back at our lives, what story are we telling? We are living in a society that has so much noise. We are constantly sifting through all of that noise, picking out the narrative that makes the most sense to our circumstance. But what if that story we choose prohibits us from gaining a broader perspective? We settle into our victim story, instead of looking at how far we have come, and how courageous we have been, as we move through each obstacle that is presented. When we face our journey with courage, we have faith that everything that is happening is for me, instead of to me.
It is human nature to see the negative before we can see the positive. It’s becoming aware of our human natural default mechanisms, in order to change. When we fall prey to those negative assumptions, we have the ability to choose a different path.
In the workbook section of Finding My Way, Facing My Journey with Courage, I write:
“Our stories are not perfect. Some of the most profound life lessons learned are from the many struggles endured during our journey, including those horrific life events such as an illness, loss of a loved one, losing a job, challenging financial situations or a child dangerously succumbing to drugs or alcohol. We get to choose how we deal with each situation. Instead of hitting the “pause” button, and replaying our story repeatedly while gaining a powerful vortex-like momentum of victim hood, we hit the “delete” button, and begin a new story, one that is full of optimism, hope, courage and strength. By staying focused on our goal, the result we desire, we choose a better way.”
Kim Schneider author of Step Out of Your Story writes, “With imagination and well-directed self-inquiry, we can step out of our story, check out the landscape and determine whether to stay on our current path or go in a different direction. We can then transform obstacles into opportunities to break bad habits and improve character to become the real hero of our own living, evolving story.”
Please visit www.donnamarkussen.com to get a free chapter of “Finding My Way, Facing My Journey with Courage". Sign up for my emails and I will keep you posted when my book is available to purchase.