The story you told yourself isn’t real.

And so are all the other lies you probably told yourself.

Imagine the earliest memory you have. What do you see? Who do you see? What do you taste or smell? I suspect that you can’t remember every sense of that moment, which is normal. Memories fade, but you also may have noticed your brain trying to fill in the gaps in the memory. With creative liberty and assumption, our brain has the power to create fiction out of truth.

The moments that pass day by day aren’t always worth sticking, so it’s amazing how we can remember some beautiful experiences but not others. These stories are lost in the truthful past. It should also be noted that some people have very good memories, which makes me envious of their picture perfect, scene for scene story producing. I’m not one of those people though.

Stories are the ultimate tool for transcending most experiences — comedy, pain, conflict, anxiety, grief. Though whether they’re past or present, the way we tell them matters.

The choices we have: Accountability, Authenticity and Honesty

Accountability is the choice to admit fault, acknowledge fact from fiction, and moving past ego-driven emotions that arise because we hate being and feeling wrong.