(Notes taken from FB Live Aug 22 2018 ~ Click to Watch)

Hello good morning! This morning I am reminded of a story I heard years ago and it changed me immensely. Let’s go on a wee journey together. Imagine you are on an international flight. You land in Heathrow International Airport to make a connecting flight. You are starving and buy a box of Walker Shortbread Cookies at a kiosk and put it in your travel bag. Exhausted, you finally find a seat. Whew! Hungry you reach down into your bag and grab your box of cookies. You notice the man beside you staring at you intently. Too hungry you open your box and start eating a cookie. To your surprise the man reaches over and grabs a cookie too! Shocked, what do you do? You are in England. Stiff upper lip and all that! So you take another cookie. He takes another cookie. Next thing you know there is only one left. He reaches in and takes it, snaps it in half and give you half and eats the other. Then without a word he gets up and walks away.

Think for a moment. How would you describe this cookie snatcher to your friends back home? What would your story be? Next you are settling into your seat on the plane. Your seat mate arrives and yep! It’s the cookie snatcher! And they are about to serve lunch! Yikes! When you get to your destination and open your travel bag, to your surprise you find your unopened box of Walkers Shortbread cookies! You reached into HIS bag and took HIS cookies! Boom! You’ve just experienced a profound paradigm shift!

This story changed my life. It made me feel what it is like to have a different experience than the one that just happened. It helped me open my mind to other possibilities. It’s like how at a 4 way intersection, if there is a person on each corner and an accident in the middle, every person will give a different version of the story and they are all right. It is good to be reminded of these stories. Helps me to be open to another viewpoint especially if there is tension.

#ptsdrecovery #cookiesnatcher #paradigmshift #claimingwellness #selfesteem #recovery #selflove #tolerance