You Control Your Story

control your story
don’t believe lies told to you
based on past events

According to my family, I don’t commit to things or see them through. I get an impulse and start something, but quickly lose interest and move on.

This is a story they’ve told about me for as long as I can remember.

Is it true?

That depends on what facts you’re digging up. I won’t dispute that there is evidence to support this theory: barely worn tap-dance shoes, a set of golf clubs hanging in the garage, projects started but not completed, great ideas that never went anywhere.

Most of this evidence is decades old.

On the other hand, there is much current evidence that weighs against this theory that I’m fickle:

• I’ve been regularly practicing the art of flying trapeze for almost 19 years
• I’ve been doing trampoline for about 14 years
• I’ve haven’t missed a morning workout in over 8 years
• I have
• I have maintained a daily meditation practice for over 6 years
• I’ve been publishing a blog post daily for over 4 years, and have amassed almost 1700 blog posts

This hardly paints a picture of someone who abandons things gratuitously.

In terms of relationships, I tend to be extremely loyal to business partners, clients, and friends — sometimes too loyal.

I tend to have an unrelenting persistence when it comes to pursuing something that interests me or that I want.

In fact, there are times when I wonder if I’m too persistent. There are many places where I struggle to let go. I sometimes wonder if sacrificing my well-being by holding on too long.

(You could make the case that holding on where I should let go is in part motivated by a desire to prove wrong the story my family tells about me. There’s likely some truth in that.)

Despite all the evidence that I can stick with things for the long term, whenever a family member expresses “concern” that my initial enthusiasm for something might be short-lived, I find myself back in my role as a little girl, shamed by the admonitions and judgments.

My inner child doesn’t see the evidence that supports my vision of myself as a persistent and loyal person who is in it for the long haul.

It’s up to the adult me to show my inner child this evidence and to help her see a different story.

The more I can keep this evidence in front of us, the easier it is to brush off the comments of those who seek to define me in a way that is not consistent with the current facts.