Changing The Narrative (Part Two - Fitness or life?)

We left part one of this post with the 5 things it took to begin to make radical fitness changes.

What I hope you will find most compelling here in part two is that the use case of fitness is as much a metaphor as it is a practical example of creating change. The path to sustained change across all facets of life starts internally before it ever shows externally. Knowing this and understanding more about how to embrace it has significant implications to all areas of life and especially, which you will see more and more as we move forward, as it relates to our spiritual formation.

Let’s take a closer look at what I mean.

As a reminder the five things we closed the last post with were,

1. I changed the internal narrative. (this is by far the most important thing and it impacts everything not just fitness).

2. I had a plan. (not rocket science).

3. I picked a platform.

4. I showed up. ("never miss a Monday, one for the day, one for the week").

5. I got / get better every day. (work in progress)

I want to focus and go deep on the first key, changing the internal narrative. This, in my opinion, is the most important aspect because in the absence of it, the remaining steps rarely produce sustained change.

The goal is not just to help you understand the impact of it, but more importantly give you a practical tools to help you partner with the process of changing the narrative for the sake of beginning to positively impact your outcomes.

Our internal view of ourselves has the ability to sway our mindset and emotions for good and for bad. When the internal dialogue that plays in the theater of our minds is healthy it reflects the characteristics of strong healthy mindset that best reflects Gods dreams and designs for our lives.

When our mindset is not healthy or left to run with a "mind of its own" it can be one of the most limiting factors in our path towards living in the fullness of all that we are created to be. Even to the point of becoming destructive and debilitating. In my fitness example you see first-hand how my mindset is debilitating. I knew I needed to do something, and I was clear that the implications of doing nothing are potentially, negatively, life changing. Yet I did nothing for a long time. Why?

The answer to the why question is pretty clear if you just go back and revisit my self-talk from the first post.

“The harsh reality, as embarrassing as it is, was that if you could somehow have had a microphone, recording the internal dialogue that played in my mind, you would have heard things like, “I am just getting old”, “my metabolism has changed”, “nothing I do makes a difference”.

This internal dialogue began to lead me to the conclusion that my current state of health was just the natural progression of aging. Which was bad, but worse was the fact that the real challenges were anchored in my identity more so than the reality of aging.

What had me stuck was that the conclusions I was drawing, based on this internal dialogue, were simply not true. They were lies and the more I believed them the more stuck I became. It was a self fulfilling prophecy.

As we dive deeper and deeper into the formation of character and the path to finishing strong, you will begin to see how this impacts every facet of our being and in many cases when left unattended has the ability to move us away from our desire and Gods dreams and goals for our lives.

What’s important to know here is that rarely is our self-talk an accurate representation of truth and yet we tend to interpret these thoughts as reality.

There are a lot of reasons why our internal dialogue is the way it is. Often, it’s formed over the course of our lives from experience.

*Experiences from our past, circumstances, and individuals- often get projected in the theater of our minds, stimulating powerful emotional responses that seem “bigger than life”

These images influence our perceptions and experience of God, self and others.

Unless we notice and confront these images, our unexamined past has the power to define and shape our experience of the present. It is possible to be God’s beloved, yet to live out of a diseased sense of self defined by inadequacy, failure, shame, worthlessness, self-hatred and worse.

Take Elijah as an example.

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough Lord” he said, “Take my life: I am no better than my ancestors” (1 Kings 19:3-4)

In the desert, Elijah sits under a shade tree and prays “that he might die.” At this point, the prophet has a full six-day’s journey between himself and his pursuers.

For the past decade he has experienced God’s miraculous protection and provision. If he has run away simply because of fear, then why now, when he is safe, does Elijah want to die?

The narrator tips us off to something deeper here. “I have had enough Lord” he said. “take my life: I am no better than my ancestors” Elijah’s words provide insight into his inner workings.

“I am no better than my ancestors”

This is the voice of comparison.

When the religious show is over, Elijah is confronted by the reality that his value and worth are measured by his success.

Similarly, audio tracks from yesteryear can play in the background of our minds. The message comes in many forms.

“Why can’t you be like your brother?”

“You can never change”

“You should have finished college”

“You could have done better”

“Why aren’t you married?”

“You will never amount to anything”

“You are lucky not good”

“If people knew who you really are, they wouldn’t like you.”

These silent “ought’s and should” have the power to shape our sense of being and well-being, creating perceived reality that informs our experience of God, self and others.

Elijah cannot silence these voices of comparison. His failure overwhelms Him to the point of despair.

What audio tracks – The silent oughts and shoulds – play in your mind and where did they come from? List as many as you can, and identify their origin (E.G. People, events, circumstances, that reinforce the message).

Wow, thats a lot for now. In part three of this post we will begin to walk through a practical process / discipline of working to change this internal dialogue and in doing so to begin to lay a foundation of partnering with God in our spiritual formation. Stay tuned!

Have questions or need help in anyway text me at 408-608-5090

Jeff

*Adapted from Theodyssey, a spiritual formation journey volume #1 By David Smith