“You did what you knew how to do. And when you knew better, you did better.” Maya Angelou
Do you know that only about 5-10% of what most of us do in any given day is actually conscious? As much as we may believe that we are actively participating in life, we spend a lot of time unconscious. The vast majority of what we do is based on habitual behaviors and responses that are based on a story we created. This story then becomes our programming.
We began to construct this story at a young age based on things that we saw, heard or experienced in life. If you were teased, you probably created a story about being less than (this was a big part of my own story). If you were abandoned, you likely have a story about being unlovable. If you were poor, you possibly have a story about being undeserving.
The possibilities of stories are endless and continuing to tell them is a dead-end on the path to consciousness. A huge part of waking up is a willingness to get off the dead-end street of story telling and onto the interstate of Truth-telling.
Are you ready for the express lane?
I suspect the answer is yes. But first, let’s go back to how these stories form. To keep it super simple (because it actually is not that complicated) here are the five steps of story creation:
- Something happens
- We have judgment about what happens
- That judgment creates a feeling and a cluster of thoughts
- The feelings and thoughts then create a belief system
- That belief system becomes our story
Stories are created because we confuse our thoughts and feelings with the Truth.
Once the story is created, it’s like we start to live in a trance state and forget the Truth of who we are. Our beliefs are so powerful that it’s as if they hypnotize us to the extent that they program us. Our story becomes the lens through which we start to see everything in our life, which motivates our choices, reactions and actions.
The bad news is that most of our stories prevent us from generating the experiences we desire or creating the things in life we want. They also keep us disconnected from Spirit because they keep us on that dead-end road. When we buy into the beliefs of our story, we are buying into the misunderstanding that we are separate from Spirit. But the good news is that our stories are not true!!! And realizing the Truth sets us free- so it is 100% possible to wake up and liberate ourselves from our stories.
I am encouraging you to move into observer/scientist mode because it is challenging to create shifts when we come at it from a judgmental or “I’ve gotta fix this” place. When in a neutral place of observation, you will gather a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of your story and how it impacts your life. You will notice patterns, reactions and actions that have been so unconscious that you were not even aware of doing them.
Don’t live your life hypnotized by your story. WAKE UP to the miracle that you are!
~ Christine
Christine Hassler supports individuals in discovering the answers to the questions: “Who Am I, What do I want, and How do I get it?” Christine grew up in Dallas, graduated cum laude from Northwestern University and received her Masters Degree in Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. She is now a Life Coach with a counseling emphasis specializing in relationships, career, finances, self-identity, personal and spiritual growth. Her expertise is centered on the twenty and early thirty something years of life. Christine has authored two books: Twenty-Something, Twenty-Everything: A Quarter-life Woman’s Guide to Balance and Direction and The Twenty-Something Manifesto. As a professional speaker, Christine leads seminars and workshops to audiences around the country. She has spoken to over 10,000 college students as well as to conferences and corporations about generational diversity. Christine has appeared as an expert on The Today Show, CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, E!, Style and PBS, as well as various local television and radio shows, speaking about life issues and “Expectation Hangovers®” – a phenomenon she identified and trademarked.
Christine is the spokesperson for Zync from American Express and the key resource for their Quarterlife Program, which empowers young people to take control of their finances. She also created a life balance curriculum for the Leadership Institute and is a member of Northwestern University’s Council of 100. Beginning this fall, Christine will serve on the faculty of the University of Santa Monica.
You can connect with Christine on Facebook, through Twitter or at her website.