We all have a story, some good, others great and sometimes not so great. But it’s how you choose to use your story or transform that story that influences the course of your life. In this post, I share 5 ways to take ownership of your story and turn your pain into something powerful.
There is nothing more ‘sexy’ when it comes to healing than the idea that you’ve arrived. You’ve conquered your health goals, you’ve found happiness, and you’re living with eternal peace.
Unfortunately, life has a way of making the arrival less than practical. It’s a never-ending chase that can be exhausting and even lonesome. Suppressing feelings, relationships, and even your real self in pursuit of what you think will satisfy.
But do you ever feel like enough is enough? Do you ever question if you really want to continue living this way?
Today on the podcast, I interview the amazing Mike Foster as we dive into our personal stories, how we can heal from trauma and start to use our pain as a superpower.
He reminds us that health, happiness, and life isn’t about reaching a destination but accepting the journey and choosing growth.
I don’t want to….
“I don’t want to live this way anymore. I don’t want to be {fill in the blank}.”
The first step in healing, in change, comes from the pull that you don’t want to live the way you are anymore. You don’t want to live stuck in the messy middle, confused about the destination, and struggling to suppress the pain.
I don’t know where life has you, but I think we can all agree we’ve declared this statement at least once in our life. It’s the first step in healing because it brings about the awareness of where you are.
The here and now, the present. Which also seems to be the place we try to avoid. We are escaping it by reminiscing on the past or actively seeking the future. Certainly, both can be used for good, but change doesn’t happen in the past or the future but only in the present.
But living in the present takes accepting the pain – or at least acknowledging it, freeing it and owning it. And through that ownership, you can start to use your story, your pain as your very own superpower.
5 ways to own your story
Again, we all have a story; we all have trauma of some kind. While it’s common to think of trauma as only significant horrific events, it can be microscopic events that can seem insignificant. But don’t dismiss it because that’s what trauma loves to convince you of. That it isn’t a big deal, that it doesn’t matter or you’re good so why deal with it.
It’s time to stop letting trauma have the upper hand. Trauma isn’t loving, and it isn’t kind. Taking ownership of your story helps you to have power over the trauma rather than the trauma having the power of you. To learn to use your trauma for good rather than pain.
Here are five ways to start to take ownership of your story.
1. stop suffering in silence
Trauma loves to remind you that your story doesn’t matter. That it’s not of value or worthy of being shared. But that gives trauma the power. You’re leaving it in charge giving it room to wreck and sabotage your daily decisions and suppress the real you from shining.
It’s time to stop suffering in silence and holding onto secrets. It’s time to start letting them out, releasing the power they hold and rewriting your future. Here are some ways to stop suffering in silence:
- Start daily journaling – about anything and everything that comes to mind.
- Find a counselor near you and commit to going.
- Invest in a close and trustworthy relationship and start releasing your story in words.
- Start uncovering your Inner Child. Here are some of my favorite books on Inner Child work – Homecoming, xxx
2. let go of your limiting beliefs
You may not know you have them, limiting beliefs are sneaky like that, but most of us have something that holds us back. Limiting beliefs are those scripts or conclusions that we come to that are false or distorted. They’re fake stories we tell ourselves and let our minds run wild.
Start to get curious about what’s under the surface. Ask yourself, are the things I tell myself true? Write them out and re-write what is false. Then continuously remind yourself of the true story until you find yourself believing it.
3. invite compassion into your life
Grace upon grace upon grace. That’s what we all need, especially because it’s not an arrival kind of thing – but a lifelong journey. Some days are good others will be difficult or downright hard. But the key is not giving up.
Listen to your heart, feel the hard days, laugh when it feels good, and test it out. For some, the real self is so buried that it feels almost awkward letting it out. Give it time and give it grace – soon enough you’ll be shining as you’ve never been before.
4. stop fearing your story
Fear is pain and trauma speaking. Fear is the past reliving itself over and over, preventing you from actually step away from it. But once you start to unleash your story – you take ownership of it – you voice it and use it then you can begin to unleash the power of fear.
Don’t let the fear of your story stop you. Instead, focus on how loved and valuable you are and how your story matters. Live in a place of love rather than a place of fear.
5. put it into action
It’s easy to sit and focus on our mind. Trying to switch our thoughts from negative to positive but staying in our mind leaves out the other two aspects – the soul and the body. You have to engage all three, mind, body, and soul, to create change. To transform from your false self to new life.
Start channeling your story through your lens of faith, listen to your soul, and put it all into action. Switching negative behaviors to positive. When you join the subconscious to our conscious reality, powerful things happen.
you are loved
Never forget you are loved more than you could ever know. Start accepting the love from other people and offering yourself self-love through grace and compassion. The more love you let in, the more you will operate out of that love, and it will start to change the way you fill your mind and your day.
resources
Make sure you check out more of Mike’s work and books using the links below:
- Website
- Fun Therapy Podcast
- Strongest Workshop: A 2-day gathering to help you live the strongest life possible.
- You Rise Glorious: A wild invitation to live fierce, free and unstoppable in a world that tries to break you, shame you, and tell you that you’re not enough.
- Five Dates: His and Her Workbook Bundles That Help You Connect with Your Partner
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If you have some feedback to share or an exciting shout out on your journey, leave a note in the comments below. I would love to know your reactions to the show and how you’re taking steps in owning your own story.
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