The Stories We Tell: Perhaps It's Time to Tell A New Story

Stories are an integral part of our lives. Stories influence our self-perception, mold our character, and in part, define who we are. It is often through our stories that we teach values and truths. Through the stories we tell, we imprint on the hearts and minds of others (and ourselves) who we are.

Most of us remember our childhood stories. It is often through these stories that we learned who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. Stories like the one of The Three Little Pigs who left home to create a new life. The first pig, according to this story, built his house of straw. Along came a ""big bad wolf" who "huffed and pufffed" and blew that house down. The second little pig built his house of sticks and that same "big bad wolf" came along and blew that house down, as well. The third little pig had the good sense to built his house of bricks. Along came that same "big bad wolf" but he could not blow that brick house down. The moral of this story is to lay solid foundations so that when the winds of life come, we remain standing.

Well, there is another version of this same story, told from the perspective of the "big bad wolf". It is entitled The True Story of the Three Little Pigs told by Alexander T. Wolfe. According to Mr. Wolfe, he was not a "big bad wolf" at all, he was merely a victim of unfortunate circumstance. According to Mr. Wolfe, he was making a birthday cake for his dear grandmother when he realized he had no sugar. Like most neighbors, he went next door to borrow sugar. It just so happened the next door neighbor was a pig who had built his house of straw. Mr. Wolfe said, "that straw was so irritating that I sneezed really hard and my sneeze accidently blew that pig's house down". "It seemed a waste to leave a perfectly good ham meal lying on the ground, so I ate the pig."

"Finally," Mr. Wolfe said, "when the reports got out about me eating the two pigs, the reporters figured the story of me trying to borow sugar to make a birthday cake for my grandmother was not juicy enough, so they (the media) concocted the story of "the big bad wolf."

Stories have different meanings, depending on who is telling the story and what message the storyteller wants to leave. It is for this reason that "We Must Tell Our Own Story, In Our Own Words!

The stories we tell are powerful tools for shaping our identify and undergirding our sense of well-being in our world. It is important to our success and ability to thrive in our world that we look carefullty at the stories we tell about orselves and oour experiences.

Perhaps you were "let go" from a position in which you had invested a lot of your time and talents. Why not tell a story about the successes you achieved while in that position.? Why not tell a story of the lessons you learned while in that position, lessons about that particular line of work, and about yourself?

Perhaps you were in a relationship that you thought woulld be life-long and it ended. Why not tell a story of having experienced love and of being committed to "never giving up on love"?

And yes, perhaps you have made more than a few "unfortunate choices". You may have failed more than a few times! Well, that makes you human! Why not tell a stroy of someone who (like Maya Angelou said) "did what you knew how to do and when you knew better, you did better."

We are the stories we tell. And it is through our stories that we create our own reality. Perhaps, it is time to tell a new story, your own story; told from your own perspective and in your own words.