We all have stories about what has happened to us.About what our life was like before.About our mothers, our fathers, our siblings, and our friends.What often escapes us is that we can always change those stories.That thing that happened so long ago that hurt us.We've created so much meaning around it.We keep repeating it to ourselves.And telling others all about it whenever we can.What if we stopped telling that story?Who would we be if it never crossed our lips again?How would our life change if we no longer identified as that person?Could we be happier?Could we be more joyful?Could we find a new expression for ourselves?We do not have to be tied to the stories of our past.We do not have to keep telling the same stories over and over again.Yet it takes a conscious choice not to.It takes breaking the pattern to stop it.And that can happen at any time.Whenever we wish to change it, we can.What new story can we tell instead?Can we find a happier, more encouraging story to tell?It doesn't have to be false, or made up.It can still be the truth, just from a different angle.Another perspective that we haven't used before.There are many more aspects to a particular story than we realize.Perhaps it comes from shifting our own perspective from one of justifying to one of love.Or from one of short-term loss to one of long-term gain?When we shift our motivation in telling the story, the story naturally shifts.What kind of story do you want to start telling of your own life?

~ Sam Liebowitz, The Conscious Consultant