Last week the Great NEWS blog shared Part 2: Health and Beauty Suggestions for Spring and this week will be devoted to the Part 1: The Power of a Story.
Recently I attended an exciting and enlightening internet and marketing seminar called Make Market Launch IT, which discussed in great detail the power of a story to convey a powerful message.
Stories play a major role in every aspect of our everyday life.
Some of you may be thinking how does this apply to the health and well being of my body, mind and spirit?
Be sure to read further to learn how important a story can be and how The Power of a Story has everything to do with every aspect of your level of health or lack of health.
The Power of Story Telling
One of the most powerful skills in today’s world of complex decisions, information overload and time constraints is being able to understand the choices and consequences of a SADD Story or a SMART Story on the quality of your life. Therefore you must learn to listen for and identify the difference between them.
Throughout time people have told stories to communicate, dictate, educate and replicate cultural history and information.
Knowing that a story is one of the most powerful uses of language, it is imperative to be conscious of the power of a story when listening to a story or telling one. Are you listening to or telling a SADD Story or a SMART Story?
It is helpful to understand what determines a SADD story. A SADD story is the one you hear all too frequently as people are complaining about their aches and pains, fears about disease, genetic problems, health issues, healthcare expenses, medical diagnostics, over the counter medicines, prescriptions drugs and sickness issues. Usually the person telling a SADD story is living a Standard Awful (American) Diet & Disease lifestyle.
It can also be about a bad boss, family feud, mean man, problem people, stupid spouse or witch of a woman just to name a few, the common theme is how they say they did nothing wrong to cause the problem “but” someone else did everything wrong to make their life miserable.
When a person is acidic, sad, sick, stressed and tired it is easier for them to complicate, procrastinate and rationalize the negative issues and pervasive problems in their life. When a person is alkaline, happy, healthy, harmonized and energized they are naturally more resilient and resourceful and put a positive spin on things.
The SADD Story
SADD stories also come from many companies, media, organizations and influential people. They are determined to significantly influence your decisions primarily with the intention of brainwashing, enticing and manipulating you to be dependent on them and their products. This allows them to make an ongoing profit from you regardless of the consequences to your long term health and well being.
The world is full of SADD stories and we hear them everyday. Consider when a friend tells us they or a family member has all of a sudden come down with some dreadful diagnosis or disease. They are confused about what is going on, how they contributed to the problem, why it happened to them and how unlucky that they ended up with “bad genes”.
Or maybe a co-worker shares some sickness, sleep or stress issue they are dealing with and would like to talk more about it with you over a fast food or junk food meal while enjoying some beer, spirits or wine. They are determined to talk more about the problem than listen to health tips, nutrition suggestions and potential solutions.
Another time you may hear or see someone struggling to pay for their doctor’s bills, hospital visits, medicines and treatments and then learn they recently bought lots of new clothes to replace their old clothes which no longer fit due to the additional ten pounds they gained during the holiday season.
Sometimes you hear one about the person who is boasting about their plans or a recent super all inclusive vacation with all the alcohol, food and deserts one can eat. After over indulging in the “all you can drink and eat bargains” people lather up with toxic sunscreen and lay around the beach or pool most of the day to get sun tanned and rest up for more food, fun and party time late into the night.
During the vacation they often end up blitzed, bloated and burned. They seem to want you to feel sorry for them being in a sad state as they share their SADD story. Are they bragging or complaining about overdoing the booze and food? Then they move on to complain about someone or something else wrong in their life. Often after the tiring trip they wonder why they feel even more sad, sick and stressed than before they left. Dah!
Imagine how much time is wasted listening to and telling these SADD stories.
When would now be a great time to Stop the SADD Stories and Start the SMART Stories?
When you catch someone else or even yourself telling a SADD story it is imperative to do or say something to interrupt the habitual pattern. When you stop the SADD story and start sharing a SMART story you stop tormenting your life and start transforming your life.
The Beginning, Middle & End
One of the most important observations that indicate a SADD or SMART story is the beginning, middle (challenge or problem) and the ending.
- Does it start with a complaining, argumentative, critical, disturbing, or whining beginning that you really would rather avoid?
- Does the story continue to spiral down hill as they rant and rave about how unfair their life is?
- Does it suck the energy and life out of them and you or is there a powerful message, moral or meaning that helps both of you learn a valuable life lesson?
- How do you feel at the end of the story after you invested your valuable time to listen?
The simple answers to these questions will quickly give you an indication if it is another SADD story or a SMART story. As soon as you see it is a SADD story it is important for your benefit and even their benefit that you find a way to interrupt their habitual pattern and shift gears before you both waste energy and time dwelling on the past in a disempowering way and change your attention and focus to something more empowering.
Stay tuned next week for understanding and using a SMART Story to empower your life.
Never underestimate the Power of a Story. They serve as valuable empowering examples or watch-out warnings.
The world is filled with people wanting to tell a SADD story and others a SMART story so choose wisely to avoid the drama and seek the dynamic ones. Learn to block a SADD story and be open to a SMART story to help your self and others. The moral of today’s article (story) is to show you the Power of a Story and its impact on our everyday life.
Mastery Action Plan
Begin to really listen to the stories others are telling themselves and to you.
- Listen to your children, family, friends and spouse with discerning and perceptive ears to discover how their stories run certain patterns.
- Begin to listen extra carefully for your own patterns and stories.
- Where do you think the story originally came from?
Stories leave clues from the past to help us today and in the future when we understand the Power of a Story.
Next week the Great NEWS blog will share: Part 2: The Power of a Story: The SMART Story
Leave a Reply