One of the lasting themes of the last 4200 or so posts on this blog is the subject of creating your own narrative.
I find myself having this conversation with my kids more and more because it's something that I truly believe in; I suppose, in simple terms, it's glass half full or glass half empty or something like that.
It is possible, though, to tell a story about a circumstance which is entirely at odds with the story that you were already telling yourself and, therefore, to make it better or to make it worse.
Last night, at our new house, my wife, Alison, and our eldest daughter, Grace, were out walking with the dogs.
My little sausage dog cross terrier, Dave, took off across a field diagonally in the dusk and decided not to answer any recall (he doesn't generally).
One side of that story is watching the dog go in the field, free, amazing, brilliant. He'll be back in a minute because he's not an idiot (he is actually), and the other story is, "Oh my God, we nearly lost him".
It was hard for my daughter, Grace, to get over the fact that she thought we might have lost them, and she was stressing about it. However, it's possible to turn that story around, just as it's possible to turn any story around; it's also possible to invent stories to motivate yourself, even if they're not true.
Michael Jordan was the genius in this, and if you've ever seen the documentary (and if you haven't, you should – The Last Dance), there's a story about a player called LaBradford Smith. LaBradford Smith was a not well-known NBA player who played for about 4 seasons, and his highlight was when he scored 37 points against Michael Jordan in a game. The Chicago Bulls lost the game in the playoffs, but Jordan decided to invent a story about walking off the court and being insulted by LaBradford Smith, where he sarcastically said, "Nice game, Mike".
Jordan told everybody in the locker room that he had said that and told everybody that he would score the same amount of points that Smith had scored in the whole game in the first half of the following game. Jordan didn't quite manage it, but he did score 36, and for anyone who doesn't know basketball, that is an utterly extraordinary amount of points to score in one half of a game.
He completely destroyed LaBradford Smith and the opposition and went on to win the championship.
It was only in the documentary that Jordan admitted that that was completely made up.
However you decide to run your narrative, however you decide to construct it, remember that your happiness is your responsibility, no one else's; your narrative is your gift to you, and you can play it however you want.
Have a knee replacement, moan, whinge, b*tch (and God knows I've done enough of that in the last few weeks) or turn it around into a challenge for you to get back to better than you were before and see it as a joy every time you make a step forward.
Whatever it is, it's your choice, not mine.
Good luck.
Blog Post Number - 4189