What's Your Struggle Story?

I encourage you to not believe a thing I write in this article, then try it on for size for yourself. Prove me wrong. 

I bet you won't. 

Everyone has a struggle story. Everyone. There's a force inside each of us - that unites us all - that wants to expand with us and through us. 

Some call this force God, the universe, source energy, life...

I don't care what you call it. I don't care if you don't believe. Your faith and your beliefs are your business, and yours alone. My belief is that we do the most harm to others when we project our beliefs onto them. 

That's why I'm insisting that you not believe me, and prove me wrong. I dare you. 

Your Struggle Story

Right now you are carrying with you, and buying into, a struggle story. There's likely one (or more) areas of life which might feel stuck, stagnant, slow, catastrophic...

If you dive deep you'll see that you have also bought into a struggle story about this  area of life. You've made this story part of your identity. You're taken ownership of the struggle that makes up the story, and you've decided - unconsciously - to invite that struggle into your life. 

You'll say you're not. Who in their right mind would choose to increase their struggles and stress? Everyone wants joy and peace, right?

Wrong. 

The fact is we wouldn't know who we were without struggle. We've entangled struggle and stress so tightly in our identity that as soon as you let go of one struggle, another appears. Have you ever noticed that? We say we want peace, but really the human mind wants something to fix, to improve, to expand. 

We choose struggle when peace is available all the time. To enjoy peace you simply have to sit still and breathe. But 99.9% of humanity can't sit still and breathe without their mind sinking right back into the drama and chaos of struggle. 

Have you ever noticed that? Have you tried to sit silent and still for a long time and watched your mind, felt your emotions? Have you really just sat still for a long stretch of time and just be?

I have, and the mind wanders. Constantly. The mind loves to create problems where no problems exist, so that it has something to do. It's as if the mind is afraid of peace. 

Because the mind is afraid of peace.  The mind is threatened by peace, because then it becomes obsolete. It likes being at the forefront of your life like a needy kid, and it does this through insisting on having a life-threatening obstacle to overcome. It's like a petulant child who wants attention. But we need to love the mind. It's doing the best it can. It really does love us, it just wants to be the most meaningful part of our life. 

So What Is This Mind For?

The mind is awesome. But the mind is better served as a back-seat passenger instead of the driver. We can talk to it when we need something, but we can also turn up the music and ignore it most of the time. 

If you pay close attention the mind has a story it reads for you. Your thoughts, your worries, your doubts, your fears, your shadows, they all spring forth from this story. When you identify and change the story your mind is reading, everything else changes too. 

This struggle story has a grip on your life. And when you revise the struggle story that part of your life will begin to loosen up and flow in a healthy direction again. The story is inviting and attracting challenges and obstacles into your life, not reality. Reality is neutral. 

The story is the cause of all of your struggle and stress. Change that story, change your life. When you do change your story and your life begins to flow easier, and more joy appears, don't be surprised when another struggle story appears and something else becomes the focus of your life. That's the mind, and that's how the mind works. It's up to you to constantly watch and see what's showing up in the story the mind is reading to you.

Make sure that you are using your mind, instead of allowing your mind to use you.

The Observed Mind

Take time to sit in silence and stillness and observe the mind. You'll see the root of all of your "problems."

Maybe one day you'll see that the mind just wants to want, and it just wants to solve something. It needs something to do to remain at the forefront of your life. 

In essence, Eckhart Tolle said it best when he said that "The mind wants to want more than it wants to have."

Ask these questions: Without a struggle story, who would I be? Do I believe I can live struggle and stress-free the rest of my life? Am I willing to rewrite all of my stories so that there's no struggle at all? Do I really want freedom?

The answer to those questions will tell you everything you need to know.

Don't believe me. Find out for yourself.

Photo by Etienne Girardet on Unsplash