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Today's
Meditation:
Stories
always have been one of the most important elements of human
life. Stories heal us, they cheer us up, they teach
us, they help us to understand what's going on in other
people's lives and minds and hearts. But somehow, most
of us have lost the story-telling ability. We now focus on
information on screens, and we focus on judging and
criticizing others, and we focus on repeating catch phrases
and ideas from other people. Very few people have been
taught how to pass on their own unique stories, and that's
quite a shame.
We've
seen in a broad sense the healing effects of the sharing of
stories. We've seen survivors of sexual abuse share
their stories and empower other survivors. We've seen
people who have been mistreated and abused by governmental
systems share their stories and bring about change. On
a smaller scale, we hear other people's stories every
day--people who have beat the same sickness that we have,
people who have dealt with similar problems on the job that
we're facing, people who have healed relationships that are
similar to the ones with which we're having problems right
now.
There
are many possible negative things to say about how we treat
stories nowadays, but it's more important to focus on the
positive--what we can do with our stories, and how they can
serve us and others. The stories that you have are
truly unique, even though they may sound just like someone
else's stories. And it doesn't matter if that someone
else tells a story better than we do--sharing our story is
an important task that awaits all of us, in one way or
another.
Of
course, let's not get so involved with sharing our own
stories that we neglect to listen to the stories of
others. I know plenty of people who do much talking
about themselves and no listening to others, and the benefits
of that strategy die very quickly. Share your stories
in
appropriate ways; share them in your own unique voice in
your own unique ways, and you'll be contributing a new voice
to this world that desperately needs positive voices.
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