Enjoy this week’s guest post by Rachel Brooks, a Fitness and Lifestyle Entrepreneur, on how owning your story can help set you free!
We’re called to create, be free, pursue a life without limits and fears. As we grow up, we conform to a society where our dreams become far off fairytales, and our stories fall to the wayside. Before we know it, we get lost in the mix and lost within.
Life has a funny way of funneling us into a one-size-fits-all box. Reinforced, we pick up our bags and carry them onto the next stop—checking each box as we go—from high school graduation to college, job, career, relationships, and so on. With each box, we feel a tug inside, moving further away from our younger self, hopes, and dreams.
For too many, we can relate. How true is it that when we start school, we have all of these aspirations, and ideas of what we want to do and who we want to become? All of the creative thoughts we had as little kids, “I can do anything!” As we grow up, we change because of what our society, parents, and friends say. Meanwhile, there’s a piece inside all of us that’s starving to reconnect to that innocent, lost dream within us.
As we strive to fit in and conform, we starve ourselves of our deepest, most intimate needs; connection, and belonging. Going through life, we find ourselves seeking acceptance and love externally, hoping to fill the void we’ve unknowingly created within. Along the way, we lose ourselves trying to fit into whatever and become whoever, trying to please others in hopes of being accepted for who we are, but who are we?
From personal experience, this was something I struggled with. The more I opened up and shared, the more I learned that I wasn’t alone. I found myself on similar paths as others, all on the same journey. Determined to find who I am, I set out on a journey of personal growth and self-discovery. Along the way, I faced many challenges, setbacks, hardships, and forced to face who I once was in order to become who I am today.
When venturing into something new, getting started is the hardest part. In the beginning, I really struggled. We’re met with resistance, growing pains, and forced to step outside our comfort zones. I didn’t know who I was or where I was headed. I didn’t know where to begin. It was there, in the beginning, I had to take a long, hard look at who I am and figure out where I’d gotten off track. Nowhere to hide, I was forced to face a past filled with secrets, lies, and abuse. I set out to uncover her truth and set herself free from a life of limiting beliefs, fears, and extreme loss. I had to own all of me, including my story.
Everyone has a story. It’s what makes us who we are; it’s also what connects us. Storytelling is the thread that ties us together—connection and belonging. For many, we’ve inherited a belief that our stories aren’t worth sharing, telling, or even owning; there is too much shame and guilt attached to them, leading us to believe that we aren’t good enough.
Our past, our stories, and beliefs create a cycle that we carry around and repeat throughout our lives. The more we tell ourselves this new story, the more we replace our truths with lies and new beliefs; eventually, our stories become our identity.
As we grow, we outgrow, forcing ourselves to take on new beliefs, and with each new belief, we attach an identity to it. On our paths to becoming, we will do whatever it takes to firmly hold our newfound identity, to ensure it’s congruent with our beliefs, thoughts, habits, and actions. Ultimately, we become what we believe. Our beliefs, they either empower or disempower us.
For me, lost at the beginning of my journey, I had a lot of disempowering beliefs that held me back. How do I know this? Because I wasn’t who I wanted to become. I felt a tug-of-war from within, my soul’s calling had reached its limit. I know if I didn’t go back and find who I was, I’d be wandering throughout life lost and purposeless.
Finding one’s purpose is also finding one’s calling. To do so, we must discover ourselves. We must trace the breadcrumbs back to the beginning. As we unpack and unravel life, we begin by addressing everything that’s been holding us back. For some, this may be a dark, scary, messy, and ugly place, but absolutely necessary for personal growth. We must face our fears and set ourselves free.
Facing your fears, debunking the lies, and reframing your beliefs, give you the upper hand. Throughout your journey, it’s as if you’ve wiped the slate clean and allow yourself to begin again, to build a life on your terms, your own agreements, and create your own story. In doing so, not only do you discover who you are but also to step into who you’re created to be, to pursue your dreams, calling and live a purpose-driven life, free on your own terms.
Whatever we give power to will continue to hold power over us, including our past, our fears, our mistakes, failures, and so on. Again, to set yourself free, you must shine a light in the areas of darkness and address them head-on and see them for what they are, a collection of life experiences. No longer will they hold power or define you, you’ve set yourself free.
You have the power to create your own story. Everything you need in life is already within you. I didn’t know who I was, so I became who I am.
Today, I am Rachel Brooks, a Fitness and Lifestyle Entrepreneur, Author of Chasing Perfection, Host of The Confident Woman Podcast, and Creator of I am Athletics. I help women get fit from within by empowering them to let go of limiting beliefs, redefine who they are, and create their own story so they can step boldly into who they’re created to be—The Confident Woman. As a part of my mission, I have taken years of fears, failures, setbacks, and extreme loss and created simple, yet powerful, lessons that help women transform their lives to become their best and most confident selves.
The post Own Your Past, Own Your Future. How Your Story Sets You Free appeared first on Melissa Forziat Events and Marketing.
