“We have more power within us to change than we have been led to believe.

And it all starts with owning our stories. As Brené Brown writes, “Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it.”

In order to untie the blame/guilt knot and live heaven on earth, you have to be willing to take responsibility for yourself and your circumstances. And if there is something you didn’t know before but know now, you act on the new knowledge and fix what needs fixing if possible.

One of my favorite examples of this comes from my childhood. I grew up in a small town. One day my father got a call from the local pharmacist, who was contacting him to let him know that my sister had stolen some penny candy.

Because she got caught, she had to endure the shame of returning the candy, but she also learned right from wrong.

✨She learned that her behavior was wrong, but not her worth as a human being.✨

She also learned that you sometimes have to take responsibility for your actions to make things right.

While my parents handled this situation in a positive way—keeping the focus on her behavior and not her intrinsic worth—many people don’t. If you grew up in an unloving home where you were routinely shamed for your behavior, it’s likely that this distinction wasn’t made.”

Excerpt From: Christiane Northrup, M.D. “Making Life Easy.”