DISRUPTING DRAMA
A storyhack that will change your life
I don’t know about you, but I have noticed that drama seems to be on the increase these days. And I don’t mean the sort of drama that we act or watch in theatres.
No…. I mean the drama that pervades our daily lives in the form of stress, anxiety and worry.
I have spent decades working with narrative and story and know that one of the fundamental forces of any transformation is crisis. As humans we are often reluctant to change unless there is a dramatic (and sometimes violent) force compelling us to change direction or challenge the status quo of our circumstances in some way. Known as ‘The Tests’ in my Restory Cycle, these internal and external forces of challenge push us beyond the boundaries of our coping mechanisms and force us (eventually) to address the core beliefs and behaviours that no longer work and create dis-ease and dis-stress in our lives.
On a personal level, this happens as ‘dark nights of the soul’, health crises, relationship breakdown or career change. Socially and collectively, we see our current tests expressing themselves in political upheaval, economic uncertainty and environmental destruction (to name a few) that threaten the ability of our species to survive.
Certainly, there is plenty to be stressed about in the world, and lots of opportunities for drama to take over our lives.
2018 was year of high drama in my life. I dubbed it the ‘rip the band aid off fast’ year where I challenged myself and my family on multiple levels.
In a single year I decided to –
• Get married
• Launch a new brand and publish my first book Tough Bliss
• Launch the Restorying Life podcast
• Take on multiple new clients and new revenue and product streams
• Build one house in the USA
• Renovate another in Europe
• Support my husband as he moved to Australia for a demanding new job
• Support my step-children as they went to University / began their college qualifications
• Continue to coach multiple enterprises in my spare time for free
And there are probably numerous ‘drama’s’ that I have forgotten amongst the cacophony of tests and challenges that I have experienced!
I had plenty of opportunities to allow overwhelm and stress to control me. Yet by living through this extreme amount of simultaneous change, I had an important epiphany! Drama can be disrupted and transformed.
To restory drama, I want to offer you a couple of different distinctions.
A) Amateur Dramatics
When we are largely unaware that our inner stories and beliefs about change are the very things that create drama in our lives, we have forgotten that we are actors in the game of life. I call this phase ‘amateur dramatics’. Similar to the antics of young children who have temper tantrums at the slightest thing that disrupts their flow, as adults we too can feel like we are ‘victims of life’. Our ‘hissy fits’ are the result of believing that the things that cause stress and anxiety are outside of us and outside of our control. We forget that we have choice not in WHAT happens to us but always in HOW we respond to that test and how we restory challenge into insight and accountability.
B) Professional Acting
The key word in disrupting the pattern of drama forever is RESPONSIBILITY. Literally the ‘ability to respond’.
When we become aware that we have a choice, we liberate ourselves from the bonds of victimhood. We cease being unconscious actors in someone else’s game, and start to choose our roles, scripts and sets consciously. We regain control over the drama of our lives, not by conquering external events but by regaining internal choice and awareness. We remember our sense of humour when challenged by life and we honestly voice our stories and beliefs so they can be seen, witnessed and transformed into more empowering narratives.
2018 was high in drama and tests for me. But at its end, I can look back and see this period of time as one of the best in my life so far. Not because I managed to make it through relatively unscathed but because I uncovered hidden victim stories inside of me that were continually catalyzing drama.
Now I can look at them and let them go.
Forever.
Because I have that choice.
For January only, we are offering a 25% discount of all of our Restorying Online Quests. These journeys offer you immediate storyhacks and tools that will help you to regain your sense of choice and release old patterns of drama.
Are you ready to let go of your drama stories for good?
*Use the code GENIUS for a 25% discount on both the Restorying Life Audio Quest and the Reconnection Journey Audio Quest. Offer valid until the 31st January 2019.
