Key Takeaways
Many of us are living inside stories we never consciously chose.
Awareness of the narrative is the first step toward changing it.
The questions you ask determine the truth you find.
Theme
Before you can write a better story, you have to notice the one you’re already telling.
Mini Teaching
We don’t always choose our stories deliberately. They are often inherited, constructed under pressure, or transmitted from the people and environments that shaped us. By the time we recognize them, they feel less like stories and more like the ground we’re standing on. That is what makes them so difficult to revise: not that they are false, but that they feel foundational.
The practice this week is simple and uncomfortable. It is a short self-inventory built around the questions you are currently asking about the hardest parts of your life. Not the answers, just the questions. Because the questions reveal the story. (See also: Intentional Transitions)
Notice / Reflect / Try
Notice: which questions are driving your narrative. Pause them long enough to get to the original idea. Notice which feelings are expressed through this narrative, and which are not. Is there a different story you could be writing that leaves you feeling empowered?
Reflect: on the hardest parts of your life. What is the story you are telling yourself about those experiences? Are they helping you heal or worsen the injury?
Try: asking yourself open-ended, curious questions about the idea you’re holding around a painful event or your suffering. Does the narrative change or shift when you lead with curiosity? Is there a more generous interpretation of that idea that helps you heal rather than exacerbate the wound?
Integration
You don’t have to rewrite the whole story today. But notice what questions are driving the current narrative.
Reflection Question
What question are you asking most often about your hardest circumstance, and what does it assume about you?