You Already Told Me That!

Believe me… everyone around you is sick of hearing it. You are sick of hearing it! Pink Lilli - Bad Gramma

I need to have cards printed and give them to my children/friends. The cards will say You Already Told Me That. They can simply hold them up at the appropriate moment and I will shut up. While I do have a wealth of good stories, they are not infinite...not at all. Therein lies the problem.

I was reading a blog from Midlife Women recently about letting go of our victim stories. I am gathering that I am not the only one that seems to retell stories. And, as I thought about it, it turns out two of those much repeated stories are victim stories. Why is that? Does it make me feel sanctimonious or even superior? Maybe.

Honestly...no I mean honestly, I really have only two victim stories that I can talk about. That is all I have ever experience or noticed in my whole life. It could be that that is very remarkable. I have told and retold those stories until I have made people want to run and hide. It is a fact that even a very close family member can work up any outrage for your tale of woe after so many years.

The writer of that article said that there has to be a reason. Otherwise why would we hang onto those things. Does it give us permission to dislike or dismiss a person you already dislike or have dismissed...does that story make it ok?

In truth most of our stories don't involve the loss of anything that is very valuable. The fact that we hold it close to our heart is not good for that heart or the heart of those around us. I for one am taking a good hard look at my behavior. After all, I am a grandmother that tries to set a good example. This is the beginning of a new chapter.

So, do you have a victim story that you repeat over and over? How many? Do you gather victim stories because they get you attention? How does it make you feel when you tell them? If so, how are you going to change that so your life does not revolve around those events?

What do you think?

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