This is an important first step, and can bring a mild sense of relief from inner criticism, self-doubt, and worry.
But if this is all we do, we miss the whole point of the story! It contains vital information that’s meant to wake us up and guide us to our more evolved self.
Our inner stories are incomplete dreams told by specific parts of our psyche.
Visualize “who” in you is telling the story: Your inner mother, father, or partner? Your culture, sub-culture, or friend group?
Then, dialogue with the story teller to unfold its message. Find out what it wants.
Is it afraid and needs your reassurance?
Is it angry, hurt, or frustrated and needs you to change something in your life?
Is it trying to make you aware of something you’re unaware of?
Is it in need of education about something?
Is it a spinning fantasy as a symbolic expression of something you need to work on?
Resist the negativity, and explore it as a mystery with a message to unravel.
If it’s a critic, you may need to integrate its power (which is YOUR power) by toughening up and saying no to it.
But it may have an important message for you.
For example, the story that you’re good enough is often a driver of growth and success. It doesn’t really mean you’re not good enough, it means your process wants to make you aware of your potential in some area of your life.
It wants you to improve something about yourself.
Alternately, it might be there to provoke you to get stronger in standing against a false idea of how you should be.
You never know until you process it.
Don’t dismiss it as “just a story.” By doing so you fail to uncover its meaning, purpose, and value.
It’s like taking a pill to suppress your symptoms; you detach from the issue but you quash your growth. You also exacerbate it by ignoring its message.
Your negative inner story is the doorway to positive change!
