What stories do you tell yourself?
Our life is filled with narratives. We tell stories to ourselves; oftentimes we repeat stories told to us by others.
Take the stories of Covid-19 for example. We talk about it during lunchtime. To say that we are disappointed about government complacency is an understatement. We know that politics caused the challenges we are facing. That our President is doing a Donald Trump in his reasoning.
I think the situation favors his political ambitions. The abysmal state of governance allows him and the oligarchs that surround him to place themselves in the best position when the pandemic is gone: to be super-rich and powerful.
Do you see what I did here?
I told you something real to me and many Filipinos. What I told you is part of the narrative I read each day from decent and intelligent Filipinos. I read them on Facebook. I read them from blogs and news agencies.
But even then, this narrative isn’t the kind you get from Hollywood about their President. Filipinos are afraid of our government. And this makes me angry.
On the flip side, I can tell you other stories.
It is the story of me planting vegetables. That we don’t worry much about the food that we eat. Unlike many Filipino laborers who lost their jobs, we eat fresh and healthy foods every day.
I am not happy about what happened to many Filipinos, but it is not right that I have to be unhappy about having fresh and healthy foods.
You can also find these stories on Facebook. You will find people who started urban gardening and who are enjoying their produce.
I thought I could feed my friends with stories of gardening and baking and earning money more money too.
I can tell stories of hope.
For example, I can tell you that I can help private schools create their online schools. That they don’t have to spend bushels of money to provide students the education they need.
That given the resources available to them, schools can create one robust online education using WordPress and some powerful plugins. I am sure that if we collaborate, I can help them create an online school before August 24. But educational leaders don’t know this. It seems that nobody is telling them.
It is my choice. I can choose to focus on the positives without ignoring the negatives.
We can flip our lives by changing our stories. Today is an opportunity to start life fresh.
Create and find bounce-forward stories to be inspired. We can make our lives meaning full by choosing the stories we tell ourselves and others.
