Getting out of your own way.

I absolutely love this photo. A few months ago I posted it in the entranceway to one of the yoga studios where I teach. It sits at eye level directly across from the bench where people sit down to take off their shoes. I love the chuckle of familiarity that flashes across people’s face when they see it. There is a certain point in our lives when we realize that the only thing getting in our way is us. Even though we understand that theoretically, it can still be hard to see exactly how we are blocking ourselves from the things we desire.

Each of us live in a storyline about who we are. Our storylines have a tendency to limit us. I have been road-blocked by “the story of me” many times. My story caused me to take a painfully long detour from a career I was always meant to have and I would absolutely still be on that detour if I didn’t take a good, hard look at my story and consider that, maybe, it wasn’t telling the whole truth.

Your stories have been your stories for a really long time and have become part of your belief system. Because of this, they are hard to see and unpack on your own. Trying to explore your story with a loved one can be tricky because, on some level, they count on you staying in your story, so they can stay in their own.

Your story helped design the life you are currently living. If there are patterns you want to break or areas in your life you want to shift, taking a look at your story is a good place to start.