Craft Your Story, Craft Yourself

How you tell your story shapes the person you become.

Much of the value of spiritual direction has nothing to do with what the director says.

The director may have some sage advice, but what is often most helpful is how the practice pushes a directee to pray and pay attention to how God is moving in her life — and how she is responding. 

Preparing for direction might lead us to uncover details of our lives that we might have otherwise ignored. 

By gathering up those pieces, shaping them into a narrative, and speaking them aloud, things often become more real. 

Telling our story uncovers and shapes who we are.

A famous study by Alia Crum and Ellen Langer involving female hotel room attendants shows the potential power of mindset. They told half of the women that their work of cleaning hotel rooms was good exercise and that it satisfied the Surgeon General's recommendations for an active lifestyle. They did not give this information to the others. 

Four weeks later, the group that had been told that their work was good exercise showed significant improvements in several health metrics, including lower blood pressure and a decreased body fat percentage. 

The study suggests that the story we tell ourselves has a profound impact on our lives — perhaps even our waistlines.