Cooking dinner, May was aware of a deep difference in her thoughts. Instead of feeling pulled away from the change she’d set in motion, she was experiencing a gentle meditation. She chopped vegetables while mentally cataloging all the things she’d stashed away that could be used in her collage class. As she sautéed chicken, she was thinking about how she rearrange the seldom-used guest room into a craft space. Slicing pineapple, Mayrealized YouTube might be a rich source of information about collage.
She wasn’t aware of it, but May was changing her story. For years, her inner chatter was about lack of money and tight time. It whispered fierce condemnation about being selfish when she thought about doing something for herself. Anyitch to take action was immediately overwhelmed with a litany ofwhat she didn’t know and couldn’t do.
Her story wasa tale about desire caught in a web. And we can’t struggle out of that web. We can’t use will-power and determination or insightto set our desire free. But we can change our story. And when we change our story, we change our life because the story we keep repeating to ourselves and sharing with others is our way of defining ourselves.
As May settled into her evening, she added another, powerful element to her new story. She let her imagination run wild. Rather than being her usual reasonable and practical self, she sipped her tea and built castles in the sky. She played with possibilities without trying to figure out how to make them happen.
In giving herself permission to imagine, she set her current thoughts, feelings, and beliefs free. This was changingher story. It was planting the seeds for a different kind of future.
Check in every Saturday to follow May’s journey to find more shine in her life.
Next time: Creating shifts with gratitude