The story of the Sun and the Moon

Once upon a time, a father asked his ten-year-old son to go out for a walk at sunset. His son and his wife had been arguing all day about this and that.

His son was a bit nervous about having this alone time with his father and he knew better than to comment. After ten minutes of walking, the father asked his son to

look up in the sky and tell him what he saw. The son answered by saying the Moon. The father said, "Are you sure"? He said, “of course, Dad”. The father looked sternly at him and said “if your mother or father says that it is not the moon but the sun. Then that is what it is”. The son remembered this story for a very long time. I imagine some version of this story is in everyone’s memory. We thought that things were one way and our parents and/or teachers told us it was another. Due to many reasons, these stories become foundations of our

lives.

How do we notice these stories? We might find ourselves repeating stories, or phrases, or acting out in ways that make no sense to our current life. If we could interview the boy in the above story now, he might tell us that he did not have successful and happy relationships. He repeatedly chose women that were unsuitable for him.

We are smarter than we can imagine but we are also more unconscious then we know. However, we can be more mindful of the stories that we are telling ourselves and each other.

Every time we tell a story, we can be aware.

-Is it a past, present or future story?

-Is this something that I have repeated many times?

-Do I actually want this to be my current reality?

If not, you have choices. You can change the story You can stop repeating it You can create a whole new story Stories are part fiction, part truth, and part fantasy. It’s all up to you.