The women gathered around the table were of varying generations and perspectives. It was an eclectic looking group with one goal: create a follow-up event to a recent "Status of Women" expo. Our first task was to select a focus for the event, i.e., around what topic would we build?
When the brainstorming session began I was struck with an understanding that each suggestion was framed around the individual stories that each woman carried. Each brought to the table the "story" either assigned to her by culture or applied to her by experience. The suggestions focused on what had happened to women. I could feel the room drain from hope to gloom.
So I opened my mouth and spun a different story. "Can't we create a different conversation? What if we shift our stories to focus on the strengths of women, the core qualities and positive aspects of women rather than stay under the labels and barriers?" They were stunned. And the hope rose in the room.
The stories we tell, and the stories we invest in create the framework for how we conduct our lives. They either confine us or create possibility.
It's the difference between fate and destiny. Perhaps you've heard me talk about this before. Fate is the path that we take when we allow circumstances to define us. Destiny is the path we take when we shift the story by living out of the strengths of our identity.
Restoration is about identifying the restraints of story and shifting them. It's about changing the relationship you have with "the story". It's about fighting back, standing up and saying, "I will not be confined by your perspective or actions."
You absolutely can shift the story in which you live!
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