yawning like a hero
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 3:17 PM
We meet all sorts don't we. And we've all got our own story to tell. And sometimes that story's inspiring and engaging, and sometimes not.
If you do the uninspiring story thing occasionally that's okay. I mean, I do it too. I think we all do to a greater or lessor extent. We need to. Without the uninspiring and unengaging we can't really get to know the other side, which I think is the side we'd all like to create so we can have a happy - rolling around like a dog in the grass - kind of life.
I think the trick is, not to do the uninspiring, unengaged story too often. When we engage in the mundane and monotony, life has a tenancy to become like the story we're telling.
So, a few weeks ago I was telling myself a whole lot of gloom, when I caught what I was doing. At which point I yawned out loud - which was slightly embarrassing because I was in a long queue at the time.
But in another way that was good. The lady in front of me turned and smiled. "I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that's fed up," she said.
Now I thought this was outrageously funny. Her story was that she thought I was bored of the queue and expressing my feelings. But I was just bored of the rubbish I had going on in my head at that moment. Yawning out loud is my way to say to myself, "Kindly to shut up and tell a more inspiring story."
What's more by the time we got to the front of the queue, I'd become such good friends with the lady, she offered to pay for my drink! How amazing!
Having spent the best part of 8 years writing stories, I know how easy it is to create whatever narrative I want. I know I could just as easily write the victim as the hero.
And that's what we're all doing all day long, writing the narrative according to the role we're choosing to play.
The other morning I woke up tired and fed up. I had this crazy story going on about being 40 in a couple of months and thinking about all the things I should have done by now. And I started to feel depressed - as a pending birthday with a zero in it can do.
But then I rewrote the story. Life begins at 40... look at all these great things I haven't experienced yet! I got on the internet, Googled pictures of what I wanted, made a wish list, then started to rewrite the story, as though it had already happened and I was looking back telling it to my great grandchildren!
I'm not attached to having this outcome either. I mean, I don't mind if things don't work out the way I imagined it. What I do know is that I wanted that day, and every day I live, to be happy and adventuresome.
And that's not to say I'm not grounded in the reality of everything that's happening around me. I'm very aware about my goals and roles and I'm also clear that I'd like to have a damn good time during the journey.
Where are you at with the story and the journey?
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Neil and Jo
http://www.CommunitySoulLife.co.uk
http://www.CommunitySoulHBG.co.uk
