From the moment we are born we begin to create stories around our experiences.

We start to label events as good or bad.

We then reflect on those judgments and make them mean something.

We're a bad person because some we didn't like happened to us.

Life is good because we got something we wanted.

People love me because they give me attention.

The world sucks because someone hurt me.

All of these thoughts are stories that may not have anything to do with the factual events.

These stories hold great power over us as we make significant meaning from them about our lives.

I'm worthless.

I can't do anything right.

I'm a failure.

These stories soon become our identity, and we unconsciously find ways to live into these identities.

My life is blessed.

I always find a way.

I can do anything I set my mind to.

It doesn't matter if these stories support us or disempower us, they still have great power over us.

These stories soon become programs we run over and over in our heads as we encounter new situations.

The truth of these beliefs become apparent in our experience.

Yet they are only true because we believe in them and we have made so much meaning from them.

The most important key to using this to our advantage is that it is all made up!

We created the meaning behind all these programs and we can change the meaning if we wish.

A black cat walking in front of us can no longer mean something bad will happen to us, but that animals love us.

The challenges we face are not because we are no good, but because we are stronger than we know.

Our life is no longer dependant on the stories we created a long time ago.

We can create new stories with new meanings every single day.

We can make new meanings of everything in our life that truly supports and empowers us.

So what stories and meaning have you made from your life that you want to make new meaning from?

~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant