Your Story is Powerful - Name it & Claim it!

If I asked you, “How would you describe yourself?”, I imagine most of us would start listing adjectives – I’m fun, happy, smart, tall, short, blonde, brunette, a mom, a daughter, a son, a kid, etc. Adjectives. Cool. But what if we began describing ourselves in a story? 

Let me tell you about ... the daughter of a King, who walks in her calling, lives out her strengths to lead and to love. Her life looks normal, but it is full of hope, joy, and so much love. She embraces the craziness in her home; he’s a tiny tornado who runs on berries and cheese – yes, a toddler. Add in the rambunctious, loud, and goofy giant – yes, his dad. To watch it all from the sidelines is the peaceful presence of the babbling baby who simply desires to be part of the craziness. And I’m left to look at the chaos, mess and immense amounts of love and say “thank you” to the King. …you get the point. 

It’s the power of story. Before we can write our stories or invite others into them, we first have to own them. And many of our stories are messy! We’re human. But things like shame, perfectionism, cultural standards, past trauma, current struggles, they hinder our ability to truly own our stories.

Why does this matter? If we can’t claim who we are, where we’ve been and where we are now, we do a disservice to our story. None of our stories are glamorous. They aren’t shiny. But they are real. They are authentic. And you, at your most authentic, vulnerable, and best self is the YOU that can bring your true gifts and strengths into the world! To pretend our stories aren’t ours limits our true power and potential. 

A challenge today: Write a few sentences about your life today - in story form. The good, the messy, the challenging, and everything in between. Pay attention to what your body tells you - are there parts of your story right now you don’t want to own? They feel hard to tell? Why? Lean into that. And remember, YOU, in your authenticity and vulnerability, are important. YOU have value and impact and potential. YOU are a royal heir in a Kingdom that never ends.