The Stories We Tell Ourselves

I am, by profession, an ad writer. I tell stories about people and products and services.You do, too.But because I get paid for it, I spend a lot of time considering – and measuring ­– the impact of stories.Some of the stories I’ve told have made people an enormous amount of money.But the most important stories I tell, by far, are the stories I tell about myself, to myself. Those stories are the source of my identity and the foundation of my purpose in life.But we’ve talked enough about me.I see something good in you and I’m calling it out.Is it okay for me to do that?Let us stare together into the eyes of the truth:Whether good or bad, your current circumstances are temporary.Success is temporary.Failure is temporary.Your future depends on your choices.Your choices depend on what you believe.What you believe is not determined by what you see and hear, but by how you interpret what you see and hear.How you interpret what you see and hear is determined by the stories you tell yourself, about yourself.Who do you believe yourself to be?What do you believe about this world we live in?What does the future hold?Your mood, your attitude and what happens to you next will be greatly impacted by your answers to those questions.“If you want your baby to die with a name, you need to pick one now.”The newborn had inhaled meconium during birth, the most the doctors had ever seen. His lungs were 95% full of it. The father and the baby rode with lights and sirens to Dell Children’s Hospital 30 minutes away, with the grandmother riding the back bumper.The doctors at Dell looked at the x-rays and slowly shook their heads in disappointment.The grandmother stayed with the newborn while the father went back to see his wife.The mother was puzzled when the nurse showed her the baby’s birth certificate. She and her husband had been torn between 2 names for their new son and had agreed to choose the name after they met him.The husband walked into the room.She said, “I thought we agreed to talk about it before we chose the name.”“Honey, Lincoln died. But Gideon overcame impossible odds. When they asked me his name, I said: ‘This boy isn’t Lincoln. This boy is Gideon.’”When the specialist at Dell met with the parents the following day, he was holding two sets of x-rays. Holding up a film in his left hand, he said, “I have no explanation for it, but this baby…” Then he lowered that film as he raised the one in his right, “isn’t this baby.”Gideon will be eight years old on March 15 and he suffers no after-effects at all.You may believe that what happened was going to happen anyway, and that belief in the power of a name is superstitious nonsense. That would be the logical, scientific belief, to be sure.But do you really believe that beliefs have no power?Beliefs are what separate Democrats from Republicans, Hindus from Muslims, stock market Bulls from stock market Bears, and scientists from storytellers.Your beliefs are what make you who you are.And your beliefs are determinedby the stories you tell yourselfabout yourself.You are not responsible for the beliefs of others.You are responsible only for your own.During his time at Walden pond, Henry David Thoreau observed, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.” And I agree with him.I also agree with Jack Kerouac. “But why think about that when all the golden land’s ahead of you and all kinds of unforeseen events wait lurking to surprise you and make you glad you’re alive to see?”Did you experience 5 years of life during the past 5 years?Or did you experience 1 year of life 5 times?Don’t let 2018 be the 6th straight year of 1 years’ experience.Do something new.Tell yourself a different storyabout yourself.And believe it.Roy H. Williams