We all have stories that we tell ourselves. Usually, these stories keep us from doing the things we want to do, from being the people we want to be, the people we could be.
It’s too risky. I’ll never get picked. It won’t work. He won’t understand. She won’t say it back.
Just this morning, I told myself a story that I’d told myself many times before. You shouldn’t go down to the gym. You know what happens when you lift weights after such a long break from the gym. You feel horrible. You get sick. Come on… you just ate breakfast. You’ll puke! You don’t have the right shorts anymore. Wait until you get some gym shorts. You have a lot of work to do.
Today I didn’t listen to that story. I went to the gym. I didn’t get sick. I don’t regret it. The next time, my story won’t sound so convincing. It will be easier to walk out the door. Pretty soon, that story won’t have any power. It will cease to matter.
Even now, I’m telling myself a story. I’m telling myself that no one cares about my morning. Who would want to read this? What’s it got to do with photography? I’m not an inspirational blogger. I’m a wedding and portrait photographer. But the fact that you’ve read this far tells me that it matters, that it was worth posting.
So what’s your story? What do you tell yourself that’s keeping you from doing, from creating, from loving, from living? Don’t listen to it. We all have stories. We don’t have to listen to them. We certainly don’t have to believe them.