The Stories We Tell Ourselves
What if the plot twist isn’t what happened - it's how you’ve been narrating it?
You ever notice how your brain loves to play storyteller? Like, full-on narrator mode. The dramatic inner monologue, the deep existential voiceover, the main-character energy even when you’re just waiting for your fountain soda Diet Coke in the drive thru line at McDonalds?
But here’s the thing - our internal narrator? Not always the most reliable source.
I read once that we don’t just experience life - we narrate it in real time. Which means the way we frame a situation determines how we feel about it. The same exact event can be either a total disaster or a necessary turning point, depending on the story we decide to tell ourselves.
And yet, so many of us - myself included - default to the worst possible version of the story.
If something doesn’t work out, we call it failure.
If someone walks away, we assume we weren’t enough.
If life doesn’t go according to plan, we panic.
But what if the story we’re telling ourselves… is just plain wrong?
The Narratives That Keep Us Stuck
The more I’ve paid attention to my own thoughts lately, the more I’ve realized how much power I’ve given to stories that don’t actually serve me.
Like the idea that if something ends, it must mean I did something wrong. Or that if I don’t have clarity right now, I’ll never have it. Or that uncertainty equals failure, when really, uncertainty is just life doing its thing.
These are the kinds of stories that keep us stuck. They turn temporary moments into permanent identities. They make us grip so tightly to the past that we can’t move forward. They trick us into believing that this is it - when in reality, it’s just one chapter in a much bigger book.
What If We Told a Different Story?
What if we started questioning the narrator? What if we stopped assuming every detour was a mistake and started trusting that maybe, just maybe, things are unfolding exactly as they should?
Instead of: “This is falling apart.”
Try: “This is rearranging itself into something I can’t see yet.”
Instead of: “I lost something.”
Try: “I made space for something better.”
Instead of: “This shouldn’t be happening.”
Try: “This is happening, and I get to decide what it means.”
It sounds simple, but this shift? It changes everything. Because the stories we tell ourselves don’t just shape how we think - they shape what we believe is possible.
The Takeaway: Flip the Script
Next time you catch yourself spiraling into a narrative that makes you feel small, try this:
Pause. Before you go full doomsday mode, stop and notice what story you’re telling yourself.
Challenge it. Is this an actual fact, or just a story you’ve gotten used to repeating?
Rewrite it. Find a version of the story that empowers you instead of drains you.
Trust the plot. Every great story has unexpected twists. Yours is no different.
At the end of the day, we don’t always get to control what happens. But we do get to control the meaning we assign to it and our reaction to it. And that? That’s where the real power is.
So now, I’ll ask you:
What’s a story you’ve been telling yourself that might need a new ending?
Because no matter where you are right now, the story isn’t over yet.