day 254: Storytelling

I heard a gentleman named Andy Goodman speak on the power of storytelling. He rightly said that storytelling was the first social networking, dating back 30,000 years, and that all that we do today with blogs, Facebook, Twitter, etc. is just using shiny tools that further our innate ability and desire to tell and consume stories. Storytelling is ubiquitous in our culture, even at work. We tell the story of the gained or lost customer, the terrific or the terrible boss, the productive or unproductive employee, or the great or horrible job we have. It is just part of who we are. On Monday, many of us will start the week with, "how was your weekend?", looking for and wanting to hear and tell some stories. The stories we tell are a window into who we are and a reflection of what and how we think. As Andy Goodman said, "stories are our identity". This thought has resonated and sat with me since I heard it. It has made me think, what are the stories that I tell and what do they say about me? I think of the great storyteller, Jesus, and what his stories said about Him? We as believers know that His stories said everything about Him. The parables, the stories He told, were told to reveal Himself and the kingdom of God to us. And oh how they resonate even today. Much of my work philosophy and coaching with others is rooted in the story of the talents in Matthew 25: 14-30. Hardly a week or day will go by that I don't in some way use the foundation of that story to help others. We all have have our own stories that we tell. Some are good, some not so good. But each of them tell others who we really are and what is important to us. Today would be a great day to stop and listen to the stories that you are telling and if they are not the right ones then it may be time to undergo what Mr Goodman calls, "narrative therapy". Narrative therapy is the removing of bad stories and replacing them with good ones. Some of us are stuck on a bad story. Work is bad, the job is bad, co-workers are bad, life outside of work is bad, on and on. If those are the stories you are telling to yourself, you can be sure that you are telling the same stories to others. And, what does that say of you? There is a great book of stories to go to replace the ones you have been telling. Look no further today than God's Word to find the stories to reshape your own story.

Reference: Matthew 25: 14-30 (New Living Testament)