The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Continued from yesterday…

There is a difference between an event in our life and the story we tell ourselves about the event. In the case of Caitlyn, the incident itself happened, but it was over almost as soon as it began.

Once it was in the past, it was non-existent. But the story of the event lived on. Finding the answers to Why?, What does it mean?, and What does that mistake say about me? became an obsession in Caitlin’s mind.

So, what created the suffering and the anguish for Caitlin? Was it the event itself or the guilt-ridden story she kept telling herself? Of course it was the story (or her personal interpretation of what the incident meant) that created her suffering.

A story of an event is a mental construct in your mind consisting of words and images of events and characters. Something happens to you, and now the mind molds that event into a story that you repeat to yourself. The longer you tell that story, the more embellished, dramatic, and significant the event becomes. There are many different types of stories, but perhaps the most personally destructive ones are the stories of guilt.

To be continued tomorrow…

Adapted from section 2 of Awakening To I Am Love by David Youngren