Why believing is seeing what are the stories that i tell myself?

The Dhammapada opens with these powerful lines...

"All that we are is the result of what we have thought, it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts."

Our perception and beliefs shape what we see and determine how we respond to people and events we encounter. Our thoughts determine our future.

"We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” - ANAÏS NIN.

What are the stories I keep telling myself about myself, others and the world?

These stories determine how I see reality.

“Everybody acts out a myth, but very few people know what their myth is. And you should know what your myth is because it might be a tragedy and maybe you don’t want it to be.” - C. G. Jung

Change your story, change the outcome.

Our unconscious operating system

These stories live in our unconscious and form the hidden operating system (OS) that runs our lives on autopilot.

This OS can only be changed when we stop and examine what is behind our actions and emotions.

What are your myths? The stories that run your life?

I am a failure, a victim of circumstances, if I am good and work hard I will be successful, you reap what you sow... etc.

These stories combine to form the lens through which we see the world.

This is why it is easier to see the speck in my brother’s eye but not the log in my own.

The eye cannot see itself. My perception, the lens through which I see the world lies in my unconscious.

So I project my log onto my brother's or my neighbour’s eye. This is known as scapegoating.

So what does this mean?

You get to choose the story you tell yourself.

Once you become aware of the unconscious stories that run your life, you can step in and change them.

You decide what it means and how it will affect you. Change what it means and you change your future.

Rather than being a victim of circumstances, you take control of the narrative and determine your future, even when bad things happen.