The Stories Our Minds Tell Us

Lately it has felt like I keep encountering all of my “stuff”, you know, the pile of habits and mindsets and issues that you know are there but you’re not quite sure how to tackle. 

While I have knocked out a ton of habits and mindsets in the last few years and figured out how to change or work with them, there are always some left over.  And since I’m in the business of awareness and change, I tend to spend more time looking for the left overs than most people probably do.  Deep introspection is my happy place, and also can overwhelm me.

The challenge I’ve been having lately, though, lies not in the issues themselves, but in the way my mind reacts to there being issues at all. 

Our minds often see an issue and immediately tell us, “this is big, this is going to be hard, I’m not sure you can do this”.  Our minds are great protectors. They protect us by procrastinating, spinning, being anxious, distracting, and many other ways. Our minds are brilliant, in so many ways, but they also hold us back.

So I’m sitting here writing in my journal and considering the question “Is this really hard and undoable or is it just the story my mind is telling me?”

When I sat down and really thought through everything, I realized I am able to do this and in many ways I already am working through and dealing with the issues coming up. When I stop and question my mind I see where I am working through my challenges by reaching out to my supportive tribe, taking moments to think, doing what feels good, and putting one foot in front of the other in the direction I want to be heading. What I’m looking at is far harder to work through if I believe the story my mind is telling me.

Question the story your mind is telling you. Let your mind weigh in, but also give yourself permission to leave it in the background and keep moving forward.