What if you were the main character of a story, and you get to define the parts of you, the aspects of you, to highlight?  Where would you put the most emphasis? What would you intentionally claim?

 Today is your opportunity to begin thinking about the next chapter of your story! Your Going-Forward Story!  You have the opportunity to reflect upon how the main character, YOU, is portrayed.

Describing the main character includes thinking about the personality characteristics as well as the roles played. Let’s Begin!  Start by brainstorming all the parts or aspects of you. 

• Draw a line down a piece of paper.

• On the left-hand side, label that column “roles or aspects of me.”

• List all the parts of you that come to mind.  This could be parent, spouse, friend, business owner, employee, neighbor, etc.  Also, push yourself to list the things that are core to you, such as artist, musician, nature lover, gardener, activist, athlete, etc.

• Rank order the roles on your list given the time you currently spend in that role or investing in that part of you.

• Pause and breathe.  We are going to move from a “head” exercise to a “heart” exercise. 

• Take three deep breaths and feel yourself grounded in your body.  Envision yourself getting ready to enter the next Chapter of Your Story.  Envision yourself claiming your Thriving Life.  Begin to think about all the aspects of you, the main character, in this next chapter.  What do you want to claim?

• As you breathe in, think the words, “I am a…” and as you breathe out, fill in the blank.  Let the words come from your soul, your spirit.  “I am a… nature lover.”  “I am a … learner.” 

• Do any new roles or aspects emerge?  If they do, capture them in your list in the left-hand column of the paper.

• Now, in the right-hand column of the paper, move over the roles and aspects you want to claim for this next chapter in your Going-Forward Story.  Try to write them in order of importance in this column.  This is an opportunity to think about what you want to emphasize in your life, what you want to intentionally claim.

• Pause and breathe again.  Look at the two columns and observe what you notice about the comparison.

• Is there anything about this exercise of listing and ordering your roles and parts you would like to capture in your journal or notebook? 

• What do you want to claim for your main character in the next chapter of your story?

As we intentionally look at the roles we play and the parts we give focus, we can see our path forward as we move from survivor to thriver. 

“Be who you were created to be, and you will set the world on fire.” – St. Catherine of Sienna

Here’s to Thriving!  Tambry Harris

If you like this exercise, you can find it and the whole process of claiming your Going-Forward Story in Awakening the Light: A Survivors to Thrivers Going-Forward Story.   Tambry invites readers to hear her story of wounding, healing and thriving so they can then claim their future life-giving chapters.