“Be careful about what you think. Your thoughts run your life.” – Proverbs 4:23
Story telling is one of the strongest forms of communication to evoke feeling, emotion, and memories. The best story tellers are usually the best salespeople, tell the funniest jokes, and are able to lead and influence others with the most effectiveness. Did you know that we are telling ourselves a story and narrative about our own self all the time? We have 35,000 automatic thoughts per day. This internal dialogue can be used to conquer any obstacle or make us slaves to self degrading and limiting beliefs.
Let me share a personal example of how your internal story could hurt or help you. For several years, Kendra and I would serve at our church’s young adult ministry called UGYP. The lead pastors were our dear friends Chad and Julia Veach. Chad is one of the best communicators and speakers I have ever seen. He now speaks all around the world, has a top selling book called Unreasonable Hope, and he and Julia have a flourishing church in Los Angeles called Zoe LA.
During that time I had a deep fear of public speaking. I’d sit there every Thursday night and tell myself, “I could never do that…I”m not that funny…what would they think of me?..I just don’t have that kind of talent.” One week, Chad asked me to give the tithes and offering message, but I turned him down. My fear of failure and self identity as being a horrible public speaker kept me from serving and growing in my faith and helping others (I was telling myself the story that I couldn’t do it). This is just no way to live.
The man, the myth, the legend, Chad Veach.
A few months had passed and I finally said, “ENOUGH!” I changed my internal narrative and challenged myself to get up on stage and speak. I asked Chad for another opportunity and I got the chance to present in front of the young adult audience. I practiced a 3-4 minute message for maybe 3-4 hours. I did awesome, and that was one of the steps that has lead me to this place…it all starts in the mind!!! I felt more emotion and joy after slaying that dragon, then hitting the game winning hit in the 9th inning at Texas A&M! If I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!
“The word became flesh and made his home among us.” – John 1:14
This verse speaks to me. I’d like to focus on the first four words: THE WORD BECAME FLESH. This is how I interpret that statement…I break it down in two ways. The first is this: God is the word and the word walked the earth and died for our sins in the form of a man, God’s son, Jesus Christ. Here’s my other interpretation: In the 39 books found in the Old Testament, the word “savior” or “messiah” is mentioned over 100 times. Basically, the prophets, and God’s chosen people were forecasting that the savior was coming. They were expectant and by faith believed that the messiah was returning to reign on earth. Guess what happened, that narrative came true. These believers had certainty and a story that was told and told again…thus they believed and expected it to come true…and it did. The “word” (our internal dialogue) “becomes flesh” (these words become our reality).
Is your internal dialogue like Eeyore’s or Tigger’s
Sometimes, life is all about asking the right questions. Here is my question to you: What story or narrative have you been telling yourself? As I mentioned earlier, Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Be careful about what you think. Your thoughts run your life.” If you are not where you want to be in life, or if you’re in “no man’s land” – not happy or sad, just simply living with a pulse, but without passion – it’s time to create a new narrative. If you are not reaching your God given potential or are playing reruns of past failures, holding onto guilt, or mistakes, it’s time to rewrite your script.
Our world is created by the story we tell ourselves.
“I’m too old or too young, not talented enough, lack intelligence, don’t belong, it’s too hard, it’s too scary, or they might reject me.” Sound familiar? Language is powerful and the most powerful communication is our own self talk. Your thoughts create and manifest whatever you focuses on. Break your old patterns of putting yourself down or saying you don’t have what it takes. When you do that, you are living in a broken internal word that becomes physical. ENOUGH! Change your story, change your life! Take a moment and say an affirming statement out loud 5 times…for example: “I got this, I got this, I got this, I got this, I GOT THIS!”
Make this a daily habit. Give yourself words of affirmation to set the stage for having a positive attitude to attack the day. You might be surprised how much better, less anxious, and more excited you’ll be to tackle the challenges that life throws at you. This is the first step to write a new story, a new narrative for you. Make this a daily ritual and build off of it.
Take control of that internal dialogue inside your head. The only thing that can stop you from being fulfilled is you! God is the creator, but you are the author of your life. Start your new story now…one full of abundance, growth, and positive internal dialogue that creates a world filled with significance and fulfillment.
Check out Chad’s book Unreasonable Hope – it might be the catalyst to give you hope and change your story.