Reclaim Your Story: Renew Your Health and Wellness through the Power of Storytelling
We are delighted to feature an excerpt from Reclaim Your Story: Renew Your Health and Wellness through the Power of Storytelling by CARRIE JAROSINSKI
Storytelling is a powerful tool that has been used through the ages. It can be used to teach the next generation what to avoid and how to be successful and to warn of errors of the past. It can be leveraged to prevent repeat failures or shared to rouse joy, wonder, and hope. Our ancestors drew pictures on walls to tell a story, elders told bedtime yarns to babes, pen was put to paper in fables that were written to entertain us with embedded morals. Storytelling is interwoven in our human nature to impart wisdom. In this book we analyze the power of storytelling within ourselves to support a journey to wellness. This book shows you how to set the stage and Reclaim Your Story.
EXCERPT: Chapter Two
The Storyteller
Maybe you’re starting to wonder “what’s my story”? Excellent! Well then, for the first step in your personal storytelling journey, you need to travel inside your own head. This is not as scary or as difficult as you might think, but I am going to ask that you be brave in this journey by journaling some thoughts and feelings as we go through the concepts. It can be difficult to take the time to stop and reflect on what it is that is actually going on inside of your own mind. So often, we are on autopilot throughout the day.
We wake up and before our feet hit the floor, we have an endless stream of “to-dos.” We contemplate what to wear, what we are going to make for breakfast, how we need to juggle our time between meetings, kids, the gym, school, doctor appointments, grocery store runs, and making everyone happy and comfortable in between all of those “to dos.” It is exhausting, and that is on the easy, mundane days! During stressful times, it is even more of a challenge. However, it is in that autopilot zone that we really do not acknowledge what we are telling ourselves at any given moment, and that can be either helpful or hurtful to our well-being.
Here is where this stuff gets good. Let me share a little secret about the role of the “storyteller” or “narrator” of life. It’s you. Surprise! We are going to take a hard look at identifying what you have been and are currently telling yourself up to this point (most often unbeknownst to you). This is the keystone of any wellness journey; it is vitally important to acknowledge and appreciate before you attempt any sort of wellness behavior change.
Your narrator is this little voice in your head that pretty much goes nonstop. This voice is even more powerful than the stories in the first chapter, because it is the story of you—past you, current you, and future you. It can be your best friend or your worst enemy. But here is the beautiful part of it all: you are in charge of it, and you get to control this running dialogue. It only takes an awakening to this narration to take control. First, let’s talk a little bit about this inner dialogue, often called self-talk.
As I mentioned, it is playing in the background pretty much all the time. Most often, this running dialogue is about mundane things like what is on your to-do list, how and when you are going to execute this to-do list, a narration of what is happening in the given moment, a reimagining of past moments, dreaming of future events . . . all of those kinds of things. However, there is this insidious element that can be dangerous.
It’s often called the inner critic, but I affectionately like to call it your inner jerk. It’s this inner voice that whispers judgment in your ear ever so slightly, so that you may not even register it. For example, when you get out of the shower and look in the mirror, it is that little voice in the back of your mind that says “ugh” as you turn away. It is that little narrator that says, “Well that was stupid, what was I thinking?” when you get home from work and realize you didn’t thaw out the chicken for dinner tonight. It is the storyteller that says, “There’s no way I can break up with Cheetos, they’re the only thing I can count on when the going gets tough, and life really sucks right now.” It’s the little jerk that tells you, “I’m such a bad mom, I can’t believe I forgot to send along little Liam’s lunch money,” or “I am sure I blew that test, if I weren’t so lazy I would have just studied more and then I would have passed.”
It’s your own personal little judge, jury, and executioner, hanging out with you at any given moment, creeping its way into your self-talk. This seductive little sleepy voice plays off of your inner fears, worries, and anxieties without you even noticing. It is a slippery little antagonist that we sacrifice far too much power to, and here’s the thing: when you keep allowing this negative narrator to be a jerk to you, you will start to believe what it is saying. Over time, it can cause shame, anxiety, sadness, and even depression, and it is an internal threat to any type of wellness behavior change you may want to enact now or in the future.
BUY HERE
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Dr. Carrie Jarosinski is a registered nurse, wellness coach, educator, inspirational speaker, and author of Reclaim Your Story: Renew Your Health and Wellness through the Power of Storytelling and the Nursing Assistant textbook educational series.
She lives in Wisconsin with her two furry companions, Winn and Xena. She likes to hike, explore, meet new people, laugh, and continuously build upon her pollinator garden in her free time.
Author Website:
Category: On Writing
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