Create a New Story to Become Empowered and Grow

Our lives are intrinsically entwined around the stories that guide our lives.  We have personal and family stories that are deeply meaningful to us, cultural stories, such as our American story, as well as our common human story.  For all of our cultural differences, our language differences, and richly varied customs and traditions, psychologically healthy humans around the world share universal core values and aspirations.  We all want healthy happy children, loving families, caring communities, and a healthy natural environment. We want to hear the stories about how people make this happen.

These aspirations have been challenged by stories that focus on competition, survival of the fittest, domination, greed and violence. Now that we are at the brink of social and environmental collapse, it is becoming imperative that people, aware, take action to manifest the world of our dreams. We need to recognize our long suppressed and even denied, capacity for sharing and compassion at the grass roots.

This last year has challenged a prevalent American story, "Money is destiny."  While this story works for meeting basic needs, it can lead to a depersonalized economic system.  This, in turn, disrupts the bonds of neighborhood and family, making it difficult to promote the development of caring and compassion of people.  For example, parents have often worked long days, away from their children,  leaving the children under the care of the TV and/or child care worker. Frequently, children's TV programs highlight violence, which fail to support the development of compassion and character. 

Other times the social learning of teens is left to peer groups, without adult leadership, which limits the development of their morals.  An alternative is to center our economy around well being at the grass roots.  We can do this in our churches, synagogues, homes, and places where we can take time to converse and reflect.  Then we become aware of the stories that have influenced us, and choose to create new ones. 

Rather than money is destiny, we might consider "Character is destiny." This story is more solid.  It is based on the wisdom of the ages, as well as our common sense experience, and ongoing research.  Indeed the stoic philosopher, Epictetus saw character as the one prime quality of happiness and success. Character is the fodder for much learning and growth. It is much more interesting, and gives us an opportunity to discover the true potentials of our human nature. Consider it, as you create the story of your life.  

Comments

[Kathryn Merrow - The Pain Relief Coach]

Yes! Character is the fodder for much learning and growth. Developing character may be something that has been overlooked in many families. More often the stories we hear are those of movie stars or television programs rather than the stories that make our families strong and develop character.

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*I hope you all have a blessed day.

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The mind states are five, and are subject to pleasure or pain; they are painful or not painful

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tomorrow is another day