Once upon a time, there was this guy. He had a very important message. It was one that, while important, wasn’t easy to accept by a lot of people.
See, he knew that most people won’t listen to something unless it already meshes with what they think they know already. He knew that most people only watch news outlets they agree with, hang out with people who share the same opinions about the world, and read books and articles they know they’ll agree with.
So he knew that despite having a very powerful message, it wouldn’t be accepted by a lot of people.
After all, if people only listen to what they already agree with, what’s the point in trying to tell somebody something new when they already know?
It’s like teaching a pig to sing. It doesn’t work, and it annoys the pig.
But then he realized that by walking up to people and telling them this valuable information that could easily change lives, remove barriers fears and false limitations, they would simply say something offhand, and then walk away.
But if he devised a way to slip this into the unconscious, so that maybe they didn’t think they were being told something new but something entertaining that they knew they would like, they would know the new information he wanted them to.
So he put this information into a story. One that starts out with “Once upon a time…” See, he knew that when people hear that, they kind of go into a slight, hypnotic trance.
After all, something that happened once upon a time doesn’t really apply here, now, right? After all, since this already happened a long time ago, and the outcome has already been determine, what’s the harm?
It’s not like you’re going to release those old thoughts and take on new ones that can be much more useful and helpful.
It’s not like you’re going to start to see things in a different way, a better way, a more resourceful way.
It’s not like you’re going to approach your relationships with much more conscious forethought, instead of just blindly reacted to what happens?
After all, it’s just a story, right? What’s the harm?
The real truth is that everything’s a story, even this sentence. Now, some of them are put in picture books for kids, and some of them are coupled with hundreds of millions of dollars of special effects, and even some of them are handed down for generations, via word of mouth. But they’re still stories, right?
You’ve heard this expression, haven’t you:
“The biggest con the devil pulled was convincing you that he didn’t exist.”
Right?
What if it’s the same with stories? After all, when somebody says something that you don’t particularly like, it’s not a “story” because you have all the information, right?
When you look back into your past, and determine what those events mean, that couldn’t just be a “story,” could they? Don’t you know everything about what happened?
The truth is that there are stories everywhere. In here, out there, back underneath there. Even way back behind that over there.
And with all stories, there are plenty of meanings.
Which ones do you like?