You CAN Rewrite Your Story
Oct 14, 2024
"You can't go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.”
--C.S. Lewis
"Girls don't go to college." I heard my dad say this to my sister when I was seven years old. She was 16 and really wanted to go to college. That was my dad's final answer. Back in the day, we didn't question Dad...well, not at my age anyway. But I had questions in my own mind; Why? Why don't girls go to college? I knew boys went to college because I had a couple of cousins that we going at the time. Are girls not smart enough, good enough? That thought went into my young mind as a belief that if girls didn't go to college, they must not be "good enough.'' That was the story I told myself.
"She's too little. There's no way she can help us win." That what the other kids said about me on the playground. I was always chosen last, if I was chosen at all. My teacher, Miss James, would often make them choose me and that choice was accompanying by groans and jeers. AND I was too short for the longest time to get on the ferris wheel at Euclid Beach amusement part. I believed that being little wasn't "good enough" either. 
Wow, two strikes against me--being a girl and being little--and there were more. Our beliefs, positive and negative, are put into our minds when we're young. Often, well-meaning people say things that are not intended to be negative, but impact our lives just the same. Our experiences and perceptions of them can contribute to the stories that we tell ourselves, as well.
These beliefs impact our self image in such a way that we may sabotage our success until we uncover them and change them. Our self image is composed of beliefs that we hold about ourselves. I've studied and facilitated classes on self image and the truth is that we never out perform our self image. We can't become more than we believe we can.
The awesome part about all of this is that these beliefs and stories can be rewritten. Dr. Caroline Lead, a neuroscientist, says this, "Regardless of the ways we have chosen to react in the past, painful toxic thoughts can be reconceptualized and reconstructed." It's true and that has been my experience!
When we choose and envision the new person we desire to be, we can begin to transform into the best person and have the best life we desire.
Imagine...imagine entering into 2025, with a newly revised story, a story that belongs to your best you. I get excited just thinking about it!
What stories are you telling yourself? What belief or beliefs are holding you back? Is there a place in your life where you are struggling or just feel stuck? Envision your new story!
Who do you desire to be? Then go ahead and rewrite...because you can...it IS YOUR story.
If you need help with this, I'm an email away! Nothing makes my happy dance more than helping individuals change and out grow those beliefs and perceptions that may be holding them back!
Excitedly typed,
Jan