Not Your Story

What is your story? I keep singing the lyrics to “Write Your Story” by Francesca Battistelli. Over and over again the words are repeated and I can’t get the song out of my head. ” Write your story, write your story on my heart. I am a blank page, an open book, write your story on my heart.” So I do what I love to do, I grab my journal and a cup of tea and I write, ” My story today is….” BLANK! I take a few deep cleansing breaths, close my eyes and allow the holy spirit to move me. I begin again, ” I am a loving, gentle soul. I am funny and I love people who laugh and make me laugh.”  Then I think to myself, ‘not much of a story!’ So I probe deeper – what about the stories I tell myself? The ones that keep repeating over and over again? The ones of rejection, miss-perception, the hurt, the anger, and the disappointment. I can choose to keep them as part of my story or I can rewrite them. God has given me the free will to rewrite the story. I get to choose what I want to keep and what I want to let go.

So I rewrite one of my many stories! I ask, “What does God want to write on my heart? What do I feel? How do I act? What do I say? What is my posture? What are you afraid of? My answer to ‘What are you afraid of?’ is “What if I don’t like my story?” Here comes the big “I” again – “EGO”. Love is greater than fear!!

Feb 9, 2019
The story starts as a young adult just out of college. She meets this wonderful young man, who knows and loves her intricacies. Her struggle for independence and love. The story is beautiful as they grow stronger in their love through amazing and fantastic experiences as well as challenging heartbreaking experiences. That is the story! WHAT??? That’s it? That’s the story! No in-laws, no judgment, no rejection! Another “AHA” moment. The story is simple. I (ego) made it complicated! Yes, a parent’s blessing is different from accepting it. All the other stuff is just stuff. Your in-laws, your relationship, your feelings have nothing to do with your soul’s desire – God’s perfect plan. The story you told yourself over and over again is not the story. They aren’t even part of the story. Yes, they come in and out as characters but I made them the main characters in my story. I took on their story and tried to make it my story. This only caused resentment, rejection, and pain. It isn’t my story so I wasn’t being true to the story God has written on my heart. That has been the disconnect, the misperception, and the struggle. It was never my story.

The lesson is don’t take on anyone else’s story. Empathy is a way to compassion, but it isn’t meant to take on the other person’s story. If you take it on, it becomes a burden, you become resentful and bitter. So stick with your story, and rewrite any story that is not in alignment with God’s story for you. The story that fills your soul. ” So write your story, write your story on my heart! ” Amen

With love and gratitude,

Anna