Recently I visited a Presidential library where I watched an autobiographical movie about this president’s life. It played for about 30 minutes in a cool comfortable theater with velvety seats. In the movie this president spoke in the first person sharing what were his life’s passions. He credited his love of contribution and service to his parents, who were both very strong people with high integrity. He presented his parents as people who lived true to what mattered to them and that he had done the same.
As I watched this video, it struck me how this president shared who he was, in his own words, and from his own perceptions, about his time on this earth. This video plays on a loop all day long in the museum, every day the museum is open. So, for everyday it’s played, for all time, he controls the narrative of who he was. This struck a chord in me.
In politics – and in everyday life – there are so many stories being produced and shared. Rarely, if ever, do two people see someone the same. People argue for their perceptions and especially in politics, try to persuade you to see the story through their eyes, hoping to convince you their story is the accurate one.
I noticed how many people were sitting in this theater and how each person in the audience had their own production of who this man was in their minds. This production could be influenced by whether they wore a red or blue tie, did they know this person, how they knew this person; was he a friend, politician, lover, employer, etc.?
What impacted me was the simple reality that each of us has the right and the option to produce our own story and live in it.
Often, I hear the stories my clients are living under. These self-told stories are mental disfigurements carried forward in the storage spaces of their minds.
I know for too many decades, I carried stories about myself as well. I lived under these stories that weren’t consciously created by me. I didn’t know that being human came with idiosyncrasies. We all have them, and they are not imperfections to overcome. They are just part of being human.
My story suggested I was inherently flawed, when in reality, I was inherently human.
I think part of ‘waking up’ in our spiritual lives is ‘waking up’ to the falsities we’ve innocently believed about ourselves. The freedom we seek is not from outside sources but from the mental bondage we’ve innocently put ourselves in.
My invitation to you is to consciously produce who you are and then live in it. You know your heart. Live in it. Rest in it. Love from it.
I love a good bottom line. So, what’s my point? Well, there’s a few:
- The production you live in dictates your behaviors.
- This production is between you and YOU.
- The story we produce about ourselves, in our minds, is completely subjective.
- Your story is up for grabs, if you don’t produce it, others will.
- Live your story of choice. NOT what you were told or carried in your mind up to this point.
- The past is past. Leave it there.
- You were born whole and complete. Bring that version of you into today’s version of you, settle for nothing less.
I wish I had seen this TRUTH decades ago. I would have loved nothing more than to lighten my load of not-enoughness a long time ago. I lived way too long in a story I didn’t consciously create or produce. Guess what? Not any more!
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I hope you’re having a wonderful summer! It is plenty toasty in Houston, Texas these days. Could we share some of it with you? LOL! Stay cool out there. I have lots of fun things for you to enjoy from the comfort of your own air-conditioned home! I hope you’ll join in.
Sending smiles,
Cherie Ray