Have you ever listened to how someone tells you a story? Not necessarily the story, the details, the people but the WAY they tell the story. What do the choose to focus on? Is it a dramatic build up? Do they always end on a negative note, complain or make it seem like they are the victim? Like everything is happening to them? 

A few months ago, I sat at dinner with some college friends. If you’ve been around the blog or the podcast for a while, you might have picked up that A. I’m a grandma. I go to bed early, do my skincare routine and read. Maybe cuddle with Asher if I can convince him to come on the bed. And B. I’ve ALWAYS been a grandma. So when friends tell me crazy stories from college, it’s stuff I totally missed out on because I was either sleeping or reading minus the pup. Your girl doesn’t do crazy parties.

But as I started paying attention to their stories, always of the past, something clicked. You know when you hear of the high school football player or person who always talks about the golden days. They talk as though their happiness was in the past. AS THOUGH IT COULD NEVER BE IN THEIR FUTURE. They were happy once and they’ve now bought into the lie that happiness is a thing of the past because that’s how they tell the story. 

Or maybe it’s the friend who tells you a story about her awful breakup. Over and over again, they repeat it to you, your friends and pretty much everyone they meet. They’ve turned a traumatic experience into a painful life because they keep telling this story.

Truthfully, I never thought twice about it. The pattern of story telling and how certain people in my life chose to relay details never crossed my mind. Then I read Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself by Dr. Joe Dispenza* and I realized just how powerful those stories were. 

In today’s episode, I want to help you see how this simple pattern of telling a story can steal your joy without you knowing. Our bodies are these incredible things but we have the ability to use our mind to set ourselves up for success or failure. We can choose to focus on the past, tell our stories of pain on repeat and create a body that’s addicted to that pain. Seriously, you can become addicted to pain. Or we can change our stories, change our happiness and create our best lives. It’s your choice. How will you let your story determine your happiness?