Have you ever heard or read the same news as a friend, but had a totally different reaction?  That can happen because we relate to everyone and everything through our own personal filters.  We see situations through the lens of memory of past experiences or desires and expectations of the future.

It is often the case that people have different opinions about the same conversation or the same political situation, or even the weather – anything, really.  We are ALL relating to everything through a filtered version of what we think is happening.

Of course, it is very natural to see a situation through your own filters if you don’t stop to examine your thoughts.  And this is why, on a fundamental level, we so often struggle with everything, because we think we know how it should be.

Maybe you planned a picnic with a friend. You wake up, step outside, and think, “It’s too hot outside today.” Or maybe you’ve said, “It’s too cold.” Or you wish it would stop raining.

We create the struggle by wanting what is to be different. We want the world to conform to our idea of what it should be at any given moment.  This constant stream of story-telling is exhausting and over time we may build up a story about an aspect of our life that can keep us in a struggle that truly limits us.

For example:  Maybe you really love art, and you would like to take a class, say in watercolor painting, but you think, “I’m not good enough at art, I just don’t have an artistic bone in my body.”  You talk yourself out of it, telling yourself this story, possibly because you don’t want to be disappointed in your ability.  In any case, you struggle with kind of wanting to be artistic, but not daring to try it because you’ve told yourself you’re not.

There is an alternative!  You can tell yourself a different story. Try turning the limiting story around.

Your new story might be, “I must have artistic talent; everyone has some artistic ability. I’d like to explore what mine is.”

You tell yourself this different story, and then you say:

“Okay on Monday, I’m going to pick up that set of kids paints that I saw around the house and on Tuesday I’m going to pick up some crayons and play with those and on Wednesday, I’m going to take a calligraphy pen and just see what happens,” and you just decide, “I’m going to play with this.”

Your Personal Power is your ability to become aware that you were telling yourself a story and to see that maybe that story is not so solid or true.  Once you notice that you’re telling yourself a story you now have the power to reduce the struggle that the story is causing.

Here’s an exercise that you could try:

• Relax you mind and body by taking a few deep breaths.
• Now…I invite you to ask yourself, “what is it that I have been struggling with that I am willing to let go of?”
• Take the time to bring the situation clearly to mind…..
• When you have the story….great! Now try flipping the story and telling yourself the opposite.
• So, if my story was that I have no time in my day to exercise, my new story might be, “I have found the time in my day or in my week to exercise.”
• Take some deep breaths and give yourself time to think about your turn around. Use your personal power to make a commitment to yourself such as, “I am going to do 15 minutes of yoga before bed starting tonight.”
• Allow yourself to really experience how that is going to be…..see if you can craft an action that will move your new commitment forward.

Start envisioning….it will work! Enjoy the fruits of your efforts!