In the eyes of my friends and colleagues Cathy and Gary Hawk, Founders of Clarity International, this question holds a great deal of power. You see, we are all telling ourselves stories about every experience we have, believing them, and then creating our reality accordingly.
Let me give you a simple illustration from my own recent experience. I was enjoying the Saturday Market in downtown Portland and realized I was hungry. I stopped at a café to buy a banana, only to find that each piece of fruit carried a $1.50 price tag.
$1.50….Really? At that point, I not only felt hungry but ticked off and ripped off. Then, I remembered the power in choosing the kind of story I wanted to tell myself. Did I really want to feel angry and taken advantage of? Was there another option? How about, “I’m so glad they have something healthy to eat and thrilled that I’m drawn to the banana and not the pastries,” instead of, “How dare they charge so much for a lousy banana?” I went with the former, and it was the tastiest banana I’ve ever eaten.
To take an example from the viewpoint of a customer service professional, let’s say you find yourself face to face with an irate customer. You might clench your jaw and start this story: “I hate this part of my job and really don’t want to have to deal with this idiot.” Or, you can replace the narrative with something like, “OK, here’s a challenge I can rise to. What can I do to calm this person down and make things right?”
Proponents of “The Law of Attraction” believe our thoughts and feelings today create our future reality. But here’s what I’ve learned from my friends, the Hawks, and my own “banana moment”: With awareness of our thoughts at every choice point of our day, we can immediately choose positive experiences in each and every present moment.
So I would ask you to stop for a moment before you continue with the rest of your day and ask yourself the question: What Is My Story?
Holly,
I enjoyed your story. It’s so true. This happens with my coaching clients. They look out at the audience and if someone isn’t attentive they create a story in their minds that they are boring speakers. We can choose how we interpret our experiences and our environment. We have more power than we realize.