Recently, while councelling, a friend and I, discussed the often destructive power of personal stories. We saw how debilitating it can be to see the events in our lives as reward and punishment. If I get this job it means I've finally healed my mistakes of past. If the tests reveal a maglignant or terminal dis-ease then it must mean I haven't been doing enough spiritual work.


You get the picture.


Trouble is, these stories seem to hold such a powerful grip on us. They feel hardwired in our brains and bodies. They trap us inside a vision of our lives that's painful and contracting. So - how do you shift out of such a story into the peace and possiblity of the present moment? That's where the lets Etch-A-Sketch comes in.


Once you're aware that a story is in play, think of that gray screen from childhood. Remember how you could create the most elaborate image on the screen and then just shake-shake-shake it away? Well, you can do the very same thing with an unhelpful story. It only seems hardwired, but isn't really.


The next time one shows up, make sure not to align with it, or fight it. Instead, take a big sighing breath and literally shake-shake-shake. Just as a gazelle in the wild shakes all the trauma out of its system after being chased by a lion, we, too, can cleanse and reset our body-mind.


Once the grip of the story releases, we're left in a state of gratitude, freeness, expansion and flow. From there, all good things happen!!