It is helpful to break down your stories because we tend to identify ourselves a great deal through our experiences, influences, lessons, and acquired and unique traits. Reflecting back on your whole life as an observer or from a higher perspective can help bring loads of clarity and new perspectives. By becoming more familiar with your own stories – past, present and future – you can gain a better understanding and
compassion for who you have developed into, which helps you into acceptance. Witness your patterns, the way you think or speak about yourself, your decisions and their effects, the experiences you choose to remember or forget, and the people and situations that have been effected along the way. Excavate your past to create a more peaceful present and exciting future.
Sharing your story is one of the longest exercises of this couse. Since you will refer back to this often and updating this as things start to shift inside, be sure to put a nice amount of energy into this. Give yourself the safe space to flow into whatever memories you feel without judgement or doubt.
Take some time to write out or record your complete life story, from your earliest memories, through your childhood experiences and into your more recent years. For the good and the bad, honor the stories and path that brought you to where you are today in chronological order. Include as much detail as you can, touching on all years and areas in life if possible. Go into vivid detail about your strongest memories and feelings around them. Recall events that shaped you. Describe who you were during life phases, what you cared about, who was closest to you, what your goals were, what your memories are.
Sometimes it is helpful to look back at some old photos, journals or yearbooks. Your story may go on for many pages… just let it out, let it flow. Here you are free to write out your prides and pains in fullest glory. Fly high like an eagle over the grand perspective of your life, swooping in for memories when they come. If any particularly painful memories come up, feel these feelings, but treat yourself with love and kindness as you work through this. Be careful not to get too stuck in worrying about how you sound, what you are writing or how it sounds if someone else were to read it. The more raw, open, and honest you are with yourself, the more you get out of it. This work is for YOU.