I g n i t e H a p p i n e ss / 37
S tac e y Y at e s S e l l a r “You’ll find happiness when you stop being the victim of your old story and become the hero of your new one.” Come on a journey with me to release the stories and beliefs that no longer serve you. They only hold you back from venturing out into the exciting unknown.
Once Upon an Old Story Every Tuesday evening at 5:00 PM for a year, I would drive a few blocks from my office to sit on the edge of a faded red velvet couch, some ugly mismatched orange and brownish pillows at my sides. A large floral-print Kleenex™ box sat patiently on the small wooden coffee table in front of me. Another sat on a glass side table between the couch and a small window that hadn’t been opened in years. Dr. Julia, my therapist du jour, always made sure there was plenty of Kleenex ready for me. I had an on-again off-again relationship with therapy since I was a teen, trying to solve the one problem that had kept me from being successful, famous, talented, confident, stunning, rich, and happy. I couldn’t believe I was back on another couch, still searching for the cure 20 years later. She sat across from me, legs crossed, with a sharp number two pencil sitting gently between her fingers, at the ready to document something profound — or telling — on her yellow legal pad. I thought it was interesting that she used a pencil, as if she could record and then erase what I said. And if she erased it, did it mean that it didn’t happen? Or that it wasn’t important?
