What if you question that belief? What if you just challenge the idea that you are any specific type of runner? What if the story you write is that you can be whatever type of runner you want to be? What if the neighbor doesn’t have an opinion of you at all? What if the neighbor’s actions are a direct effect of her own life experience that you don’t even know about?  What if that neighbor is feeling desperate to be friends with you but is shy or intimidated? Or maybe she had a traumatic experience as a child and is deathly afraid of dogs.  The fact is, we can’t possibly know why a person is the way they are with us.  All we have are the stories we write in our heads.  So what if the stories we write are ones that create a positive experience in our lives? What if we can make our story whatever we want it to be? 

Does this mean that if I write the story that I am an Olympic Gold medal sprinter that it will magically come true? If only it were that easy. Challenging a belief that doesn’t serve us allows our minds to accept other possible stories and allows us to take action in order to support that new belief. 

We question the story, we challenge it, we turn it in all directions, look at it from all angles and flip it upside down and sideways in order to see any other possible realities. We find one that we like and then we get to work. 

First comes the belief, then comes the work to create the reality. So if I want to believe that I can be a fast runner, I am going to be willing to put in the work to become so. The body is brilliant at responding to the mind. If I reach out to my neighbor, I will break down barriers and beliefs that aren’t serving either of us. Conscious daily effort, trusting the process, hiring a coach, showing up every day are all actions we can take to support a new belief that you can be a faster runner, or create a new friend in your neighbor.  

The exciting thing is that once we accept this concept, the possibilities for ourselves are infinite!