Story: The Messenger of Life and Death

The living dead: people who move among us in a gray monotone haze, eating without tasting, living without loving and suffering without feeling. These are victims of the silent war, an internal struggle that demands inner growth in order to survive external obstacles. This is the anthem of the human condition, “Can I overcome the obstacles in my life, or will they overcome me?” This is at the root of every great story; it is the common universal thread. Indeed, the great tragedy of life is that people die before dirt hit’s their grave.

Humans are story tellers. Externally, we use story to interpret our experiences and form ideas which ultimately determine our survival. Internally we use stories to interpret ourselves, forming a powerful self image of who we are, what we believe in, and what is right or wrong. This is necessary to survival, without these internal stories we would not have the tools to avoid harm. Invariably, a small percentage of these stories become false as external circumstances necessitate their change. Strongly ingrained beliefs, or stories, are highly resistant to change; this is the source of the inner battle. As an example, let’s look at the following story:

Sarah Summers has just graduated from middle school. She’s painfully shy and most of her friends are stuffed animals. One night her mother is out late and she is left at home with her father, Richard Summers. That night, Sarah wakes as her father enters her room, he’s unrecognizable and grotesque. Sarah suffers ruthless sexual and mental abuse. The next day, Sarah finds the courage to tell her mother what has happened. She is slapped and told not to lie. Sarah never tells anyone the truth again. As the months progress, the sexual and mental abuse becomes more violent, more sinister. Sarah, once a bright, joyful girl, turns dark and angry. She often thinks of ways to take her own life. Then she finds something wonderful, something that takes the edge off- alcohol. She begins stealing vodka from the well stocked liquor cabinet. She drinks each morning before school and when she returns home. The vodka tastes horrible, sometimes she pukes, but when she drinks, fear retreats and the pain in her heart become manageable.

At this point, Sarah’s subconscious mind makes a powerful correlation between alcohol and survival. This is a fatal flaw. In the case of Sarah Summers, the alcohol may serve her for some time, but her story will reach a point where continuing down the road of alcoholism will destroy her. Let’s watch the story play out:

The years pass, Sarah finds love. She keeps her addiction a secret as long as she can, but the man finds out and leaves her. Later Sarah finds that she has become pregnant. Deep in the depths of her own pain, she doesn’t care that she may hurt her baby, she continues to consume a fifth of vodka each morning. Months later, Sarah begins to have a piercing stomach pain. She visits a doctor, Dr. White. The doctor is horrified to find stomach ulcers and orders an ultrasound. After looking at the results he sits Sarah down. “You’ve been drinking heavily, Mrs. Summers. You were given a beautiful baby boy, your destroying his chances of having a normal life. If you don’t stop, he will be born with fetal alcohol syndrome. Mrs. Summers, I am escalating this case. If your baby is born with defects because you continue to drink, there will be legal consequences.”

Sarah’s belief, “alcohol equates survival” has been challenged. If she continues to drink, she will kill her baby and she will face real consequences.

The true importance of the story is that Sarah has a choice, one of great weight, which will determine her own internal life or death. If Sarah continues to drink, we can assume that very little will stand in the way of her alcoholic abuse in the future. She will fail to meet the necessity of growth and internally she will decay and eventually die. The fatal flaw will kill her. Inversely, if she finds the strength to stop drinking, she will have grown; she will not be the same person that we knew at the beginning of the story. This does not mean that her pervious actions don’t have consequences, the child may still suffer from her pervious choices, it simply means that Sarah has made an important choice about her life, and there is hope for her future.

How is it that a well told story moves us to tears, what do we have invested? The answer is everything, we invest our selves in the stories we hear. Sarah’s story, though different in the details, is everyone’s story. The core, fundamental question is the same- “Will we grow and overcome the obstacles in my life or will they overcome me?” In the end, something must always die; either our false beliefs or our spirits. Stories are a mirror that reflects our own inner struggle and reminds us that we have a choice, the most important choice: Will you overcome in order to live and grow or submit to inner decay and death?