Are You Stuck In Your Stories?

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  Sam Forsberg said,

  This was not the first recording of the podcast on ‘Rewriting Our Stories’ that Paul & I have done. It wasn’t even quite the second…
  In fact, for a little while there – I didn’t think Paul & I were going to be able to publish a podcast on this topic at all.

  We don’t doctor our recordings (although we do tidy them up when connection issues cause a blip or when catching some other ad-hoc curve ball – Paul is our tech-wiz!); so what you hear is pretty much what you get with us. And we don’t pretend to be perfect or have all the answers. Sometimes we’re just a single step ahead of those we are helping. Which means we are always learning: learning more about ourselves, about the topics we share, about each other and about life – usually laughing deeply along the way (especially as potential for learning is greatly increased when you can learn to laugh at yourself & your experiences!)

  So I wanted to share with you another example of just how powerful our stories can be.

  I sustained my back-injury over 11 years ago. I was first shown that I could rewrite my story ~8 years ago; and since then, have learned to manage my back injury rather than letting it control me and the quality of life I lead.

  Yet when Paul & I began exploring this topic, and I tried sharing my story by starting with the triggering event (rather than with my chosen story), I was stunned by just how depressing and heavy it was. By simply talking about the accident and what I felt I’d lost during those first 3 years, not only reminded me of the unpleasant details but almost took me back to that place of feeling helpless and crippled.

  The tone of that first podcast was totally wrong! Our second attempt, with a few ideas to tweak it, didn’t work any better. It certainly wasn’t going to be inspiring and empowering when it left us both feeling down in the mouth. Yet we weren’t quite prepared to walk away from the topic – which we felt would be a really powerful tool in helping each of you to rewrite those experiences that haven’t served you well.

  And then we realised – the places to start our stories with were the stories we’ve CHOSEN, rather than the ones thrust upon us initially, that we’d accepted by default. All of a sudden, the podcast was living and breathing the results of stories we’d re-written!!

  I’ve not bought into my old ‘victim’ story for many years now – yet it shows that just by giving such an old story the space to be dug up (even with good intention) – it can have a powerful effect on how we feel about ourselves and our world. How powerful does that make the stories we repeat to ourselves every single day?!

  Thanks for giving me the opportunity to rebury that old limiting tale, and recommit to my choice of the story that has been, and will continue to be, my bridge to a shining present AND future.

  We’d love to hear the stories you’ve re-written if you’d like to share!

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  Bernard McMahon said,

  I’m committed to the idea that it’s what we think we are rather what we THINK we ARE. If that makes sense.
  In the podcast you drive hom ethis concept. It is so easy to repeat stories about ourselves that over time become much bigger than the event that triggered them.
  I work hard to “write” new stories for myself to move forward.
  As with all your podcasts, your conversational and accessible approach is easy to listen to and moreover easy to translate into personal situations.
  Great job.

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  Paul said,

  Hi Bernard, Thank you so much for taking the time to comment on our podcast. It’s sometimes a bit like shouting into the wind never ready knowing if your message it getting out there! I’m so glad you find these podcasts useful and are able to relate to them on a personal level. This podcast in particular was quite a struggle as you can see from Sam’s previous comment so it makes it even more special that you were able to gain something from it.

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