Dear
Ones,
Writing
stories in my head is something I’ve always done. Some stories are real, others, make believe.
A recent article pointed out, we all write our stories. Personal narratives, they are labeled. What’s more, these stories in our head help us
make sense of our lives and so how we compose the story is important.
The
article which goes into depth about two studies done by psychologists states
that if the story you conjure up in your head about an event in your life is
positive, then voila! You will be
happier. They interviewed hundreds and
calculated and weighted and suggested a course of action to aid in reframing
your narrative from negative to positive mainly by paying attention to the
narrative you create and examining it. Is
the story really true? Can you change
it?
After
reading the complete article, I could take a page out of E.B. White and
condense that study down to a few succinct lines such as: When the world gives you lemons—make
lemonade. Or always see the glass half
full instead of half empty. Or how about when the door shuts, somewhere there
is a window opening. Tons of these
cheery adages do help us and yes while we know they work, when the bird of
paradise poops on our parade, those upbeat sayings can curdle our coffee. But as the article points out, feeling
helpless and moaning is pointless and uses up our energy that we could better employ
making a plan.
So
I decided to write two narratives for the same morning. Here goes.
1. It’s a crappy morning, humid and drizzly. My knee hurts.
I’m sick of going to the neighborhood park for my walk. Same old…same old. I want to run barefoot on an ocean
beach. Fat chance. I can’t jog anymore and I can’t see any ocean
beaches in the near future for me.
What’s more, my step has slowed, and I get occasional glitches in my
hips. I’m blue today and I don’t want to
go over to the park and beam good morning to other walkers.
2. Wow!
So thankful it’s not snowing and icy like many places. I can walk over to our small park and I think
my knee is improving. I’m lucky to have a safe pleasant place close by for
walking. Plus saying a cheery good morning to fellow
walkers usually improves my spirits.
After all you have to return a smile.
Yeah, I do walk slower but that gives me a better chance to spot a finch
or a cedar waxwing in the pecan tree.
Thank goodness my eyes are okay.
I’m blessed.
Interesting,
isn’t it? Same day, same person, same
issues to deal with…yet two different narratives. One researcher said “You can’t impact every
event in your life but you have a choice in how the narrative is played
out. You tell the story and the story
really matters.”
By
our age, all of us have composed many narratives in our heads. However, it was revealing to me to examine my
stories and maybe do a little rewriting.
Try it.
“I remember things the
way they should have been.”
Truman Capote
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