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Mountain Ancestors Grove, ADF

A Year of Contemplation

Don’t Tell Yourself Stories (Day 65)

3/6/2019

1 Comment

 
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Image Credit: Pixabay

In my work as a full-time pastor for our church, I’m lucky enough to hear so many stories from so many people, all the time. Over the course of time, I come across a LOT of reruns of people’s stories, and just like that episode of your favorite program, we remember all the inflections, details, and timing. I’m not talking about hearing reoccuring themes in the human experience. I’m talkin’ about the same people telling the same stories. 

The SAME stories. It’s like they’re performing for an audience, and every chance they get to preform, at best, they get the chance to improve the theatrics, or at worst, they’re not being present and simply hitting the autoplay button. 

In public avoid talking often and excessively about your accomplishments and dangers, for however much you enjoy recounting your dangers, it’s not so pleasant for others to hear about your affairs.”
(Epictetus, Enchiridion, 33.14)

It’s gratifying to tell the tales of our accomplishments that highlight our talents, however, when those talents come to define our identity, and those accomplishments are linked to our worth, then those stories arise from a place of ego. 

Being with other people presents us with the opportunity to practice “relationshipping”. Like Ryan Holiday says, we must strive to, “... listen and connect with people, (not) perform for them.” (The Daily Stoic, p.76)

(See y'all tomorrow)
1 Comment
Jane
3/7/2019 10:09:03 am

Oooo, another one right in the feels. I am often and knowingly guilty of retelling stories and rehashing the same conversations. I have a pile of canned ones, ready to be deployed as needed when I need help handling a social situation. I never thought of it in these terms, but I absolutely use them as camouflage in a social setting that has become too scary or intimidating, as a buffer between me and full, present engagement with the situation and the people around me. I never wondered if I was doing the same thing if I tell myself stories. If I choose the narrative of my life, do I risk missing an opportunity to fully engage with my present reality? When are the stories I tell, both to others and myself, a barrier to connection rather than a way to strengthen relationships? Things for me to consider...

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    About the Blog

    Awakening the desire to explore Stoicism, and how it relates to his existing beliefs, Rev. William committed to working through the text, The Daily Stoic, a year-long journey to awaken the Stoic mind. 
    How things are structured can be found in the first post. 

    About the Author

    Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Rev. William attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where in 2007 he graduated with a degree in Religious Studies, minoring in Psychology. Currently residing in Longmont, CO, he is one of the Priests and founder of Mountain Ancestors Grove.  He spends his time playing mandolin (and some guitar), writing, engaging in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education, community service, and sharing a larger vision of how a polytheist perspective can lead to greater human understanding, acceptance, and gods be good, peace. 

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