In the body of an article I read this week in Relevantmagazine.com, I came across this;
“We don’t just need better stories we need truer stories.”
A better story could be one which places you or me in a position of superiority. Most of us at times feel the need to play the One-Upmanship game especially if it’s been a bad week.
A truer story seems to me to challenge us to be more real. A truer story opens up the possibility of building depth into a friendship. A truer story brings vulnerability into the relationship which gives that relationship a chance to grow.
I was listening to a TED Talk from Brene’ Brown who noted that shame has become an epidemic for many Americans describing it as; “The most primitive human effector emotion we experience.” If I tell a friend a better story to elevate my status within the relationship, perhaps I am doing so in order to mask something I am ashamed of. If on the other hand, I see our friendship as a resource of life for both of us then perhaps I will have the courage to tell a truer story, one in which I am honest to share how I am struggling with a matter that has robbed me of being the real me. In his book How to Be Here, author Rob Bell says that; ‘Who you are not isn’t interesting.”
I hope you have in your life right now a friend whom you consider to be a resource of life. Experiment with vulnerability, see where it may lead, and how it might deepen not only the friendship but your own understanding of who you have been created to be.
There’s only one YOU! If you don’t play that role, the world loses your unique impact.
MC
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