The Power of Knowing Your Story

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Everything has a beginning. Everyone has an origin story. When we understand it, things begin to make sense. As we reflect, we begin to see (and hopefully understand) why.
Why are we here? Why did this thing, event, success, tragedy, obstacle, celebration happen? Why?

  • What happened? (Including the main characters/people involved)
  • What choice was made? (Including my reaction/decision and where it took me.)
  • There are more positive things that happen in life than maybe we realize on a day-to-day basis.
  • Our story is bigger than just us. Much bigger.
  • Even though there are problems that occur in our story, it will eventually turn out okay.
  • The obstacles we encounter help us grow and eventually succeed in the future.
  • The people we encounter (even the negative ones) help us understand how to live life (and how not to live life).
  • Everything we experience helps create a bigger picture and potentially a greater success.
Too often we think of the why as annoying. It seems like whining. (It even sounds like whining.) But if we use it as a way to reflect so that we can resolve and refuel, than it’s not annoying. In fact, it is vitally necessary.

The origin story has two parts: something happened and a choice was made.

It is popular in literature, specifically in comic books, but it plays true in the world of reality. Our world.
Think about how difficult it is entering in the middle of anything. The lack of context creates a mess. Conversations, books, movies, a person’s narrative, television shows (and so many other things) need context in order to be fully understood.
In fact, one of the big reasons television show theme songs became a thing was so people could understand the origin story even if they began watching the show at episode five or twelve or 27. Think about The Flintstones, Scooby-Doo, and The Brady Bunch, each theme song gets the viewer caught up on the story. It gives the viewer context.
As important as that is for television shows, it is more important for people.
When I reflect on my story, I do an activity that I call timelining. I timeline the influential moments in my life by asking two questions.
From this process, so much can be (and in my experience is) learned. Maybe it’s time to reflect on our story. How did we get here? Who played a role? What choice do we need to make next? 
We all have an origin story, and there definitely is power in knowing and embracing it.
Are you ready?

 [I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about this post. Use the comment section below or click here to tell your story.]

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