Do you ever find it difficult to discern the difference between your drama and someone else’s?
Maybe you trust others’ words more than your own at times. Believing what they say over how you feel.
But there’s moments when something doesn’t sit quite right.
Like when someone you’ve just met mentions substance use, “but I can stop at any time.” Hm… A textbook phrase. Later the truth of addiction comes out.
Or you sense some discomfort when you’re showered with gifts and compliments. It feels good to be cared for and appreciated, yet there’s a warning in your body not to relax fully into it or get too close.
The truth is complex and may hide in plain sight
Perhaps you’ll never know the truth. Like an iceberg, there’s a lot of unconsciousness under the surface, distorting what’s seen. A sentence or two may not capture all the threads woven together.
But sometimes the truth is hiding in plain sight, waiting for you to trust your own instincts and discernment. Those subtle sensations in your body. The voice that gets louder and louder, giving you stomach pains, fatigue, or anxiety until you finally hear your inner wisdom.
Self-exploration keeps you from losing yourself in others’ drama
It’s easy to fall for the masks others put up. It’s a path of introspection and self-exploration to grow over time so you hopefully don’t make the same mistakes again. Some people will not admit to weaknesses. They hide the truth from themselves.
A difficulty is getting tangled up in their energy. When they dictate the rules, you have to decide whether to play the game. Others may tell you how the world works, who you are, what’s true. But you’ve got to define the truth for yourself.
If you don’t tell your story, others will tell it for you
You don’t have to be limited to the projections of others. They see you through the lens of their own fears, worries, and internal drama.
The eyes of others can reduce you to one single facet of yourself. Like the way children think their teacher lives at school. Or how your family expects you to stick to your role, like in the movie Encanto.
Stepping into your whole story
I encourage you to examine your own story with a kind and loving gaze, tell your truth, and write your words. So you are no longer swayed by the voices of others.
Crafting the story helps make sense of the past. Archetypes help understand the characters at play in your life. What motivates people to do what they do?
You’ll likely find that your instincts hold more truth than you could imagine. When you weave together your story, you capture the complexities of life. You bring together the parts of yourself. You choose how to be defined. You find trust in yourself.
P.S. I invite you to check out upcoming Writing Class: Story Journeying to write the story you need to tell in your own voice.