The stories we tell ourselves have power.

When I realized the power we have to choose the story we tell ourselves, I had to acknowledge the story I was telling myself about me, about my decisions, about my finances, about my worth, about my life. I had to choose to pay attention to the story I was telling and what that story was creating for me.

I realized I had trained myself to see the negative about me, to see all the ways I fell short. I used my story to beat myself up for “poor decisions” I had made or things I had done that I didn’t like. I was telling a story of doubt and regret. I was telling myself a story of being unworthy and unlovable. I was holding onto an unhelpful limited view story.

I had to give myself permission to let go of the painful story and choose to move forward in freedom trusting that everything is exactly as it should be. I had to decide to tell myself God’s story of me.

I had to let go of the story I held against me. As horrible and hard as it was to have that story, that story I had been holding against myself my whole life, it was my story, and I was comfortable with it. And there were people around me who had the same story of me. For me to decide to be different, to tell a new story, will make me uncomfortable and may make them uncomfortable.

I had to have courage to step into a new way of being. I wanted to do it even though it made me a little scared. I no longer wanted to be defined by the story I had been telling or the story other people had been telling about me.

I wanted to choose to be defined by God’s story of me.

I had to practice believing the new God story was true. Over and over again. Moment by moment. Day by day.

I had to accept my back-and-forth-ness of making progress and being human! Slowly over time getting better with some worse to better in between. Realizing I am not going to change all my habits, ways of thinking and being, overnight, but I am going to work on the process and make progress overtime.

I had to intentionally choose to practice creating new beliefs. Deciding on purpose what I wanted to think. Learning to manage my mind by renewing my mind on God’s Truth continually. Believing God has given me the ability to take my thoughts captive and renew my mind on His Truth. Trusting that God sets me free as I practice believing His Truth. I practice trusting and believing over and over and over again.

Choosing to acknowledge and practice awareness of the thoughts I was thinking, the story I was telling myself. (You cannot change what you do not acknowledge.) Choosing to acknowledge God’s perspective. Learning true-self-concept. Willing to let go of an old unhelpful story. Practice believing. Practice receiving. Had to practice believing that nothing had gone wrong. And this is all part of it. Dropping expectations of myself and others to be a certain way. Practicing accepting what is.

I had been telling myself the same terrible story about myself over and over and experiencing the same results. I had to start paying attention to the story I was telling. I had to decide to let my old painful story go and start practicing telling myself a new God’s Truth story. I had to intentionally retrain my brain. As I changed my thinking, I built new beliefs and began to change my behaviors.

Our brains believe what we tell it the most. I learned that what I say to myself consistently shapes my brain for good or bad. I learned that what I allow to ruminate in my brain, what I think about the most, shapes my beliefs and becomes my reality. I learned that I have the power to choose what I tell myself. I have agency over the stories I allow to ruminate in my brain. 

The story we tell ourselves about ourselves is powerful.

What story are you telling yourself?

Choose to see yourself as God sees you and tell yourself a good loving hopeful story! You have the power to choose!