Life Script? What’s that?
Are you saying that there is a script for someone’s life?
Who can say that they are okay with other people telling them what or who they will become?
That will never be the case with me. I would not give that sort of control to anyone, especially regarding my entire life.
But that’s the problem with life script
Everyone thinks that are qualified to speak over your life
How do you feel about that?
My views are that a life script is a sort of control.
No one should believe others misgiving or negative predictions about their future life.
There will always be a purpose and means for others to change and live the life they so desire.
This article aims to help you understand what is life script and how you can use opposing thoughts and reframe tactics to get the life that you are meant to live.
What Do You Mean By Life Script?
It is a document or blueprint that has been already written for us before we were born?
When I say ‘written,’ I mean the various thoughts of people speaking either negatively or positively over your life.
These people can be your caregivers/parents, teachers or anyone who you frequently spend time around. It can be a pattern of observations that may allow others to draw positive or negative conclusions about one’s life.
Are there thought patterns or observations beneficial? If they are positive, they may be beneficial in helping us understand the pathway that we choose in later life
My mother told me that she noticed that I had a caring nature and loves to teach others, she concluded that I will become a nurse or a teacher
In this instance, her observation and thoughts about my patterns of behaviour proved true. I did become a teacher and a nurse.
Sadly, this is not true for everyone, and when others’ thoughts and observations about our patterns of behaviour are negative, then it can pose a real problem in our future if we choose to believe and internalise these statements.
This means we are essentially allowing others’ thoughts and observations to navigate our lives.
The important thing for all to remember is that these scripts were created in early childhood, and they can be modified or changed as we grow older.
Internalising Negativity.
As a child growing up, we tend to always remember negative situations, incidents or words.
Unfortunately, somehow these negative statements are always remembered and internalised and pose a threat to how we think of ourselves in the future.
If the statements, incidents or words were mainly positive, then the children would likely be assertive, positive and kind.
On the other hand, if the behaviour were mostly negative, then the children would probably grow up to have low self-esteem, low self-confidence, self-hatred and other negative thoughts and behaviours.
Unfortunately, some children use their internalised negative thoughts and behaviour and think the worst of themselves.
They eventually allow the pessimistic predictions to control their thoughts, and they give in to what they believe life has already decided for them.
Childhood Memories
It’s always our childhood memories that set the centre stage of our lives
Our memories can be the force that makes or breaks us as we continue to grow in later years.
Memory is the most crucial component of our life script.
It serves as a record of our past and shapes who we will become in the future.
It also provides us with a sense of identity and belonging and we can often use these memories to create either a positive or negative picture as we identify with our past experiences.
Some children are often confused by two different sets of memories.
- The things that they remember doing and thinking
- And the things that their caregivers/parents and teachers are saying that they did or said
Whatever our memories, and whether or not they are detailed or vivid, one thing for certain is that they do stick with us for the rest of our lives.
Cancelling Opposing Thoughts and Behaviours
Have you ever thought about how powerful the human mind is and how it holds all of our memories?
Sometimes the human mind acts as a protection by holding on to negative and traumatic memories.
The human mind is always working towards giving us what is best for us to grow. We can all use this to our advantage especially when it comes to our past and our memories.
One thing that we can all do with our minds is to use the art of visualisation to our advantage.
What do I mean by visualisation? This is using the mind to hold a positive thought or focus. Carrying a positive thought or picture in your mind.
I have always created a picture of what I wanted to be as an adult.
That positive picture or visualisation is what I always carry in my thoughts, especially when my surroundings are not favourable.
Holding that positive picture in focus at all times and speaking positively to yourself will always cancel opposing thoughts and behaviours.
Importance Of Visualisation
Focusing on our future and what we want to achieve should always be our primary priority when others talk negatively.
I remember when others were always predicting what my life would be about during my childhood.
Although I was a child, I often say the opposite of the negative saying.
This visualisation has always carried me through to achieve my goals and objectives.
How To Create A New Life Script Or Reclaim An Old One
I always believe that anyone can change their life script. You can start by having a positive mindset.
It doesn’t matter what your present life is. As long as you are unhappy with the way things are for you, you can change your life script.
You have the option of seeking professional help to do it, or you can do it yourself.
The only person that knows all about who you are and what you want to achieve is you.
5 Steps to Redefining Your Life Script
We create our life scripts through our words, thoughts and actions.
We can start by first analysing the old one.
Then we can use insights about what we want to change to create a new life script that will lead us to the desired future
Use these five steps to get the new future you desire.
1) Identify Your Reasons
Yes, you want to change your life scripts, thoughts, beliefs and behaviours, but what are the reasons?
What are the driving forces behind those thoughts?
It is crucial to identify what is causing unhappiness because it can be challenging to find a solution if you do not know the problem.
2) Identify What You Want To Change In Your Life.
You can write down three things that you would like to change or do more of in your life.
These can be anything from “I want to spend more time with my family” to “I want to change the way I think and behave.
3) Change Negative Thoughts Into Positive Ones.
This can be done by using positive affirmations.
Positive affirmations are statements used as self-talk or self-affirmations to change negative thoughts into positive ones.
They are used to alter the cognitive bias in our brain to think more positively about ourselves and our situation.
4) Create New Beliefs for Yourself and Others
Your belief system will gradually change as you start working through them
Use this opportunity to embrace this new thought process.
Reflect and put in positive actions to implement as you continue your journey.
5) Build The Future You Want To See
Only you know what it is that you want from the future. Take this time to reflect, search yourself and write it down.
It will be challenging, but you can take a step-by-step approach to tackle everything you have on your list.
Anything is possible if you are consistent and focused on meeting your goals.
How I Changed My Life Script
Throughout my childhood, I had conflicting feelings regarding my surrounding negativity.
Although I knew that I was talented and unique in my thoughts, I always felt like an ugly duckling.
I remembered overhearing several conversations where someone repeated that I would never make something of my life.
Hearing that first negative remarks was what I used to make my visualisation progress.
My Early Insights
I always knew what I wanted to be.
I wanted to become a nurse and a teacher from an early age.
Something about helping others made me feel extraordinary and wanted.
Even though my negative surroundings made me feel useless, I still pushed ahead and focused on the positive picture in my mind.
It was all that I had left.
Change Negative Thoughts Into Positives
As I grew older, I discovered that I am happier when I talk or say positive things.
I know that it was so strange for others to see a young girl always talking aloud to herself, and sometimes I felt embarrassed when they sometimes made fun of me.
Instead of stopping, I started to write all my positive feelings into a diary that I received for my birthday.
It always felt good to read all those positive words at the end of the day before I started to sleep.
The Change
After suffering a traumatic ordeal, I became irate.
I found myself lashing out at every turn.
I also started to hate the way that I looked, but I couldn’t do anything about it, so I started binge eating
This binge eating resulted in me becoming obese.
So now, I was not too fond of how I looked.
I now resented myself and all these self-defeating behaviours.
I then decided to do something about it because I wanted to start loving myself again.
My New Perspective
I was now in High School and studying Psychology.
In one of my classes, I learned about the power of change.
Yet even though I felt convicted, still I did nothing
An inscription on the back of my class photo started the refocus of my life.
It was just the words that I needed to hear -“You can change the future.”
My New Beliefs
I remember kneeling on the floor and crying for a very long time.
The time had come for me to face my fears and start anew.
I already reflected, decided and wrote down all the things that I did not like about myself.
These written words included my behaviour, thoughts and how I looked.
And now, all those written words were going to be a reality.
My New Future
It was a very long process, and it was very challenging too.
I struggled at every phase and milestone that I made for myself.
The results of each mini-goals were always tears, relief and gratitude.
Although I had started my journey, I felt at peace because I knew that I would never stop until completion.
Final Thoughts
We are often told that we cannot change the past, but is that true?
Many people are unhappy with their lives, and they are stuck in a life script that they don’t want.
The media constantly tells us that our lives are scripted, and we have to live with them.
We can learn how to rewrite our own stories, which can provide us with a sense of stability and comfort.
Our new life scripts can help us reach our goals, especially in stress and uncertainty.
