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| Image by Books for the Soul |
"Storytellers are powerful and we are all storytellers." ~Me
Telling your story takes a million* different forms. The things you say to yourself in your head, the actions you take in private and public, the way you describe your day to a friend, the songs you love, the posts you write, the people you choose to accept and invite into your life and the lives of your loved ones.
For me, telling my story has included literally telling it as a story. Writing it in a book, answering interview questions, and telling it on video.
As I've shared with you often, I started telling it before I knew exactly how. But as I continued, my story became clearer to me and easier to share. My beliefs and dreams gained clarity and came true. My writing took shape and I learned when to be pithy and when to take long strides with words.
I learned with absolute certainty that I will always be learning, and I learned to love that!
And as my sons have grown older and begun to truly do the same, to start living and telling their story - the story of who they are and what they want - before they're good at it, I'm even more certain that it was a good idea! Because, like me, I'm watching them grow gifted while they compose. I see the shifts they make in who they choose to be and I applaud as they surprise me with plot twists and character motivations I never saw coming.
You know what? They're better at telling their own story than I was at their age!! They are entirely aware of the influences our culture and our relationships have on us, and they are confident in their own abilities to make personal choices regarding what influences to accept and enhance, and which ones they want to abandon and reveal for what they are.
"I AM -- the two most powerful words in the world, for whatever we put after them becomes our reality." ~Susan Howson
My sons amaze me! And I truly believe that part of their confidence comes from watching me do it, too. Seeing me tell my story and explore my own direction and beliefs, fumbling and tentative at first; growing eventually stronger and more confident, trying always to remain open minded and aware of the effect my story is having on our environment.
I believe that my willingness to make mistakes while telling the story of me, my openness while tweaking and revising who I am and how my story goes, gave my sons something to work with. An example of how it's done.
I also believe that my absolute happiness in being the teller of my story has given my sons an example of why they want to do it!
"I love stories and I love growing up. I love learning the same lessons over and over with more intention and a wider vision." ~Me
Tell your story, friends!
Be the composer of you.
Hugs, smiles, and love!!
Autism Answers with Tsara Shelton (Facebook)
*In case you were doing the math, I do realize that my examples didn't quite add up to a million; I was merely supplying a small sample. tee hee!
