Seven Steps to Being Stuck in a Story

While the specific cause and resulting effect vary, just about everyone’s development is frozen in some way.  We’re all stuck with beliefs that seem true but are not truth.  They are LIES^TM borne out of misunderstandings which can lead to life-long repetitive patterns of thinking and unconscious habits, leaving you stuck in a story that you re-live, over and over again.

There are a number of steps in the cycle which lead from the original event to its consistent manifestation.  The process operates in this way:

1. You experience something.
2. You decide what it means.
3. Taking root in your emotions, your interpretation sets. You become certain that what you believe about the event is accurate.
4. You use future experiences to validate what you believe.
5. Now, you are Stuck in a Story.  A vicious cycle is established.  You are in a rut.   The lid is on.  The light is off.
6. The story becomes true, reality, and determines future reactions.
7. Fixed and frozen, your mindset doesn’t allow you to see the situation differently or mature beyond it…development is arrested.

This closed-loop can only be interrupted when you allow for the possibility of other interpretations.  Since most people are invested in their story, creating such an opening can be a challenge, even when they don’t like the plot.

• Have you recognized this process in your life?
• Do you recognize this pattern in a friend or family member?
• How do you go about breaking the cycle?