So much of our personal suffering in life comes from the stories we tell ourselves. Unfortunately, our stories are almost never 100% true.
Have you ever wondered where these stories come from? How is it we so quickly and unconsciously form these stories that bring the fruit of unhappiness? Some stories we inherit from our family. Others from our culture or community. But even still they originate from one main source.
In our grade school English writing classes we were taught the difference between first person narratives and second or third person narratives.
First person narratives are told using the pro-noun “I”. You are narrating your story in your own voice.
Second or third person narratives are told using the pro-noun “You” or “he or she”.
Now why would this be important to distinguish in our own thoughts?
Is it first person?
Or is it second or third person?
Is the story in your head using the “I” pronoun? Or is the story being told using the “You” pronoun or “he” or “she”?
When we can determine what perspective the story is told from we gain some very important insight.
I can know if the story being told is in second or third person, that IT’S NOT ME TELLING THE STORY.
It can’t be. It comes from someone else.
So if you’re not telling the story, then who is?
It’s either the devil on your one shoulder or the angel on the other.
If the story you tell takes you into darkness then it’s from the devil. If the story brings you light and love then it’s the angel. It’s from the Lord. The origin of thought comes from one of two sources.
These thoughts are like seeds planted in our mind.
These stories will come into our mind in 2nd or 3rd person narrative and what happens next is very important. If we choose to repeat the thought, focus on the thought, replay the thought, it will water the seed and it will grow. In so doing, there is a transformation that takes place. We convert those 2nd or 3rd person thoughts into 1st person thoughts. We identify with them. We personalize them.
A thought like “You are not good enough” which started in 2nd person, becomes “I am not good enough.” First person.
Now that the thought is personal, it starts to feel more believable. Not only that, the words I AM are powerful sacred creation words. They are not only a name of God, but they instantly trigger all parts of spiritual creation. You SEE an image of yourself in your mind, you SAY the words, and you will automatically FEEL an associated feeling. Your feelings, then influence what you DO. Your actions. And thus we see the Law of Creation in effect.
So often we talk about Satan as our tempter. We know he tempts us to choose evil, but before he can even do that, he must first get us to believe his story. Once we believe him, we then make choices to support our belief. He will plant seeds of thought into our mind, and once we personalize the thought and repeat it and water it, we begin to believe those thoughts are true.
Satan is an interpreter. We go through this life and we interact with others and have experiences. We’re here on Earth learning. Because our brains seek to find meaning in it all, Satan will constantly tell us how to interpret everything. He tells us what other people think of us, he tells us what other people’s motivations are, he tells us what God thinks of us, he tells us what our past means about us and what fearful things lay in the future. He constantly tells us what is in other people’s heads and what they’re thinking. But unfortunately, these interpretations are inaccurate. They are never 100% true. When we believe his interpretation, we suffer and we make choices that lead us away from the fruit of happiness.
Nothing in our life has meaning, until we put a meaning on it. Satan is quick to interpret the meaning for everything. Thankfully, this is not the only meaning we can choose from. We are not left alone. Truth, however, must be sought for.
