Heather Hansen

Losing My Sunglasses and Finding Another Story

At the time I didn’t realize that losing my sunglasses would lead to finding another story. But I’m so glad it happened. I was late for a doctor’s appointment, and rushing. I had stuff in my pockets and my sunglasses tucked in my neckline. I heard a sound and felt in my pockets to be sure I hadn’t dropped my airpods or my phone. Nope–all there. So I kept walking. Then I went to put on my sunglasses and they were gone.

I retraced my steps, more than once. And I looked everywhere. But my sunglasses were gone. They were brand new, Tiffany sunglasses and I loved them. I spent the rest of the morning and much of the afternoon beating myself up.

“You need to pay better attention. You’re walking around clueless.”

“If you can’t take care of nice things, you don’t deserve them.”

“You have too many sunglasses as it is. This is a sign that you shouldn’t buy anything else for yourself.”

These stories made me feel bad. I wasn’t joyful, positive or brilliant in my calls. I was down, feeling unworthy and angry at myself. But then I decided to change my story.

I told myself a new story. This story had a woman behind me, finding my sunglasses. She looked around to see if she could find the owner and when she couldn’t she took the glasses home. She cleaned them with care, and put them on. They made her feel royal, elegant, and proud. She showed them to her husband and kids. And every time she wears those sunglasses she shines. She needed those sunglasses so much more than I did. Instead of focusing on losing my sunglasses, I was focused on finding another story.

This story made me feel happy, joyful and bright. It changed the way I treated myself and my team. And I found evidence to support that story. The glasses were definitely gone. Only a woman would pick them up. I collected evidence to support my story and then I chose to believe.

You can always choose another story. And then you can collect evidence to support that story. I hope you find a way to choose the story that serves you, and then you support that story with evidence until your inner jury believes. I found that in losing my sunglasses and finding another story, I found a way to change everything. Choose what you see, change what you get.

Heather Hansen

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