AUTHORING THE STORY OF A LIFETIME
CONTEXT
A recent Mirror Session participant asked me about decision-making. She had spent the previous 5 months waffling on an important decision + felt very self-critical about her inability to decide. We discussed many things related to this topic during our time together, but the following transcript really jumped out to me after the fact.
As usual, these words hold a universal truth. They pertain to each of us in a very specific + fundamental way. I hope that reading what I’ve shared ignites a memory somewhere deep inside of you. I hope you find your place in this adventure: your mythology.
TRANSCRIPT
Remember everything that we’ve discussed today: your life is a story. And this is a story that continues to write itself; day by day, it’s always moving. Which means that you can tell a whole new twist at any point along the way as it unfolds.
When you recognize that this life is your mythology, you quickly begin to realize that you can’t possibly mess it up. Think about how empowering + how true this really is. If you have the ability to pivot at any point along the way (and you do), then no matter what ever happens, you can find a way to adapt. You can change the trajectory of the story. You can make a new decision, plot a new path, adjust course.
So you really can’t mess it up. Remember: no matter what, the story continues to write itself. And remember this, too: you’re not ever making a decision ‘for all time.’ The story is a book that doesn’t close. You get to make a decision, feel into what’s available for you on the other side of it, and then make a new decision after that.
But this way of writing your story on purpose is going to take some time. It’s going to take some practice, and it’s going to take real courage. So along the way, just be gentle with yourself. You know, you don’t need to look back on your past self with a critical eye. You just don’t have to do that.
You can look back on your history + have compassion for the person that you were. Just look at her! She did the absolute best that she possibly could do, she really did.
And where you are right now? Well. Even with all of the uncertainty, all of the fears, all of the immeasurable unknowns: it really is ALL OK.
It’s all part of the story.
CONTINUED…
Six months from now, when you look back on this, you’ll recognize that it was a turning point for you. Not because of this conversation, not because of my words, but because of who you are in this moment + because of who you allow yourself to be in every moment after that.
You see? You can’t screw this up. You can make the worst possible decision of all time today, and by tomorrow you can make a new decision altogether. You can’t screw it up. Because now you are the one in control of the narrative.
Previously, everyone outside of you was in control: your parents, the schools, those contracts you assumed you had to sign. Life appeared, back then, to be happening to you.
But that’s no longer the case. (It never was the case; but you didn’t know it at the time.) Now you are a participant in the story of your own life.
With this expanded awareness, you get to step forward into a life that’s all your own.
CONTINUED…
Of course, this isn’t to suggest that everything will flow smoothly + abundantly + beautifully + joyfully from this point forward. What it does suggest is that no matter what may happen, you will have the resilience + the capacity to adapt - to meet what may occur in all-new ways.