Kay:

Hello, Questers, and welcome back. It’s Tuesday, September 28th and this is episode 452. We have a quote from our favorite first lady of all time, and definitely one of our favorite authors as well, Mrs. Michelle Obama and she says, “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”

Shi:

Our story is human beings make us so uniquely, therefore our unique collection of experiences over time no one else will ever precisely have. Many people will have a very similar experience, but no one will have precisely the same and so that is so unique. It’s like a fingerprint or a signature and embracing the fact that that is our S that our story, our identity, our unique factor helps us use it to our advantage about what she clarifies here by saying it is something to own.

Kay:

And like you just said, Shi, something to take advantage of. You are the writer of the story, and you are the star of the show. So, sometimes the star and the writer have differing opinions of how things need to be going down. But that’s the thing, their story is what you have, and you have the ability to write it. But the thing about writing your stories is that you actually then go forward and live it,

Shi:

That’s such a great point. She objectifies it here. Your story is what you have. Not your story is who you are, a very different message here. Your story is what you have. It’s that thing that you can say, okay, this is the hand I was dealt. The collection of experiences that this human being has, what can I do with it? To do the best for whatever it is that I desire to have an impact on the world and it’s something you’ll always have. So, despite whether or not you have lots of resources at your fingertips or you’re well-connected, or you are in a place where you can figure it out, you do always have your story. If you take that ownership of it and use it then it can really be something that helps you.

Kay:

So, I mean, take some time to write the story that you actually want to live out. Take time with your story, write it carefully. Be good about understanding where you’ve triumphed in the past, where you’ve fallen down, take ownership of every step, and use your story to empower you. Because at the end of the day, the internal stories that we run back to ourselves really end up creating this reality. If you were with us yesterday, we talked about perceptions and that being reality. Your story plays a huge role in that itself.

Shi:

Interesting to think about it. She’s talking about the meta-story of your life, this big story. That’s the great volume but it’s really comprised of millions of tiny stories and dozens of major life stories and hundreds of medium-sized stories and then countless stories that you’ll never remember. You are all of these things combined and so your story, you can zoom way, way out and see it that way or you can zoom way, way in and look at those defining moments or those other little moments that many folks often tell us at the end of your life, end up making up the most.

Kay:

Chances are, if you’re anything like us, you have an internal narrator who is telling your story all the time, just telling your story right on back to your times bad, married, or it’s not constructive. Sometimes the nettle is rather constructive and so finding ways of getting that internal narrator to tell the story of your life in a way that at least makes you feel empowered through it, and then finding other stories that maybe you tell yourself all the time like I’m just so busy or it’s always hard for me, or things like that. Maybe just take a look at that story and say, look, if Michelle Obama tells us that our stories are what we have, and then we got to own it.

Shi:

I love that you bring forward the idea of our internal storyteller. If we don’t bring that awareness to it, I know many, even with knowing that it’s there, you can slip into just listening to it by default and maybe bringing in the separation that can be helpful to you. But that storyteller is such an integral part of what makes up our ability to use the story in the way Michelle tells us. To remind you of what her quote is she says, “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.”

Kay:

Alrighty, gang, you’ve got a Rewrite Your Story Quest today. Today, we want you to take a few minutes to just write a paragraph three to five sentences about you. But the only thing to remember here is that you want to have it in a positive light. Who are you? What’s your new inspiring story? What’s a story when you tell yourself that lifts you and empowers you, instead of disempowers you? Are you ready? Write it with us now.

Kay & Shi:

Let’s quest!