You’re living in a Survival Story

We think we live in and see reality, and yet every single one of us is living inside of a story. In fact it’s impossible to live outside of a story as a human, because that’s what we do. We interpret, apply meaning and create stories to make sense of what happens and what we experience in life.

Our story was written many years ago. It started construction when we were little, observing the world and soaking it all up. This was when many of our beliefs were formed and these beliefs became the building blocks of our story. Many of these beliefs were formed long before we had the language or perspective to question them. These beliefs and the story they wrote quietly shape everything we experience, what we believe is possible for us, what feels safe, what we deserve, whether life is a joy or a hard slog, whether money is abundant or scarce. It shapes it all. For the vast majority of us, the story we’re living in is a story of survival.

Because these beliefs and the story were written so long ago, we don’t see them as a story, we see them as fact and don’t even think about questioning them. And so we keep repeating the same patterns and keep having the same experiences.

As you get older parts of you start to get exhausted, frustrated, maybe even angry at the repetitiveness of your experience and they try to change it. And in many cases, you end up back repeating the same experiences because you’re still living from the same story.

The survival story you’re living in is playing out every single day. You may see it in the way you approach money…a low level of anxiety always there even when you have enough money. In how you respond when things go well….waiting for the catch or for things to start going wrong and so not allowing yourself to fully enjoy it. You may see it through patterns like people pleasing, perfectionism, control or overthinking.

One thing I know from both my own experience and the work I do…..you can’t think yourself out of a survival story. You can't force yourself to behave differently, to think and feel differently. We need to go deeper.

The first step is to start noticing the survival story playing out, noticing the beliefs, the thoughts, the actions that are the survival story in action. And then we turn inwards with curiosity.

The parts of you that are frustrated and annoyed that you keep repeating the same patterns, they’re trying to override and get rid of the parts of you with the old beliefs, old patterns and living inside the survival story. And that’s not working.

So instead we get curious with the parts of us that hold those beliefs and are running those patterns, and by starting to reconnect to your-Self. We listen to them and start to understand what they’re holding onto, what they’re trying to do for us.

When we start to work with our parts, rather than trying to override them or get rid of them, we get to update them and bring them on the journey with us. We can help them to release beliefs that are no longer true to who we are today and instead start to create a story of empowerment, of possibilities and then we get a totally different experience in life. Our needs get met without repeating the patterns that lived in the old survival story.

Like everything on your inner journey, it’s not a quick fix, it takes time and consistency. And when your parts start to feel heard and listened to, you will start to see and feel the changes. Small steps consistently.

A Gentle Invitation to Explore

Start to be curious about your survival story. You will notice it in thoughts that feel limiting, patterns repeating. Notice where frustration shows up, what is that pointing towards.

When those moments come up, ask yourself “What is the story I’m telling myself here?”

Remember always curiosity, no judgement. Judgement shuts down any opportunity for learning.

What can you learn? If you’d like some support on this journey, you’re welcome to book a Free chat with me here. Or a great first step would be to join my next Feeling Revolution programme which starts soon. You can find out more information and reserve a spot here.