Lesson Objectives

• Describe the importance of meaning-making in humans and how, left unchecked, our reliance on story can shape our thinking, emotion, and behavior.
• Discover how to rumble with a story by challenging the conspiracies and confabulations that are often a part of the narratives we make up when we are in struggle.
• Deepen your emotional vocabulary and self-awareness by further exploring your SFD and using the Story Rumble Glossary.

Reading Assignment

Rising Strong — Chapter 5

Exercise: My SFD

Now I want you to write your SFD.  Keep the SFD to three or four lines. Short spurts of writing can be more helpful to the process than long narratives.

You may be in the midst of a story, or you may be recalling a story from the past. Both scenarios are equally powerful and appropriate.

When it comes to our SFDs, it’s important that we don’t filter the experience or worry about how our story makes us look. We can’t get to our brave new ending if we start from an inauthentic place. You can be mad, self-­righteous, blaming, or confused. Don’t worry about editing or trying to “get it right.” You’ll know you’re being honest if you’re worried that someone might see your SFD and think you’re a total jerk or a nut job. We all have SFDs that don’t reflect who we want to be, but they will help us become who we want to be.

You can either start with Exercise One - My SFD or with Exercise Two - SFD Writing Prompts: Unleashing Curiosity - whichever is an easier place for you to start. 

The story I'm making up or the story I told myself:

Is your SFD: 

Honest 
Unedited
Unfiltered 
Possibly unshareable?

Exercise: SFD Prompts: Unleashing Curiosity

Below are prompts to help you think about your SFD. You can start with this exercise if it's easier for you, or start directly with writing your SFD.

Use the Story Rumble Glossary (under the "Resources" tab in the menu on the left) to help understand what you're really feeling. Reviewing the emotion definitions can help provide clarity. 

The first thing I want to do: 

My emotions:

My body:

My thinking:

My beliefs:

My actions: 

Exercise: Let's Rumble

It’s Time to Rumble. 

Time to Unleash our Curiosity. 

Time to poke, prod, and explore the ins and outs of our story.

01. What more do I need to learn and understand about the situation?
What are the facts in the story? What assumptions am I making?

02. What more do I need to learn and understand about the other people in the story? 
What additional information do I need? What questions or clarifications might help?

Now we get to the more difficult questions – the ones that take courage and practice to answer.

03. What more do I need to learn and understand about myself? 
What’s underneath my response? What am I really feeling?

04. What part did I play?
Sometimes you may not play a part.  Even so, it is still helpful to think about this question and write down your answer.