Welcome Back, Wild Monday Readers.

Last Monday, I started this series: I Was Slowly Killing Myself Before I Figured Out These 4 Things.

This is Part Two and today’s question is:
What is Your Back Story?

How we see ourselves helps define us to others.

Read that again: How WE see ourselves helps define us to others.

If I’m not feeling great about myself or great about things, I know that comes out in my everyday way – even if I don’t say anything.

No matter what our past holds, we have to find the adventure in it, the beauty in it, the wildness in it and take what we can to pull us into the future walking on top of it all.

Think your life may be boring or just “whatever”?
Yep. I told myself that, too, until I started digging into my life story.

Here’s some questions to help you see yourself though new eyes.

1. Where were you born or where are you from?
Now, this question is asked a billion times and answering this with a place or city name is boring. It doesn’t say anything about you.

Imagine that there were no names for cities or states. What were you born by? What does the land look like? What day were you born? Was there any unique history to the place?

If you ask me where I’m from, I’ll tell you that I grew up by the seashore, and I was born several days after a new moon rose into the night sky. I grew up among ferris wheels, roller coasters, fortune tellers and boardwalks.

Much more interesting than if I told you the names of the place, don’t you think? Now you try it in the comments.  I bet you’ve never seen your hometown like that before.

2.  What interesting ancestors/relatives do you have or what are some characteristics or hobbies of your relatives that might be unique?

There are stories that your parents or relatives have that you probably don’t know and that would absolutely fascinate you.

Ask! Dig around.
For instance, I only found out last Christmas that my Dad set up an illegal gambling parlour in high school! His story about it had all of us rolling on the floor laughing and it explained so much about him, and also added stories to my own life.

I found out from talking with my Uncle that my Grandma Helen was “born with a veil” – which is a thin layer of the amniotic sac covering the baby’s head.  The lore has it that, those born with a veil have powerful second sight and can see into the future. While I knew that my Grandma had always been mystical, I had only found out about the veil in the last two years.

These stories are puzzle pieces that also can create a bigger picture of who we are.

I am the daughter of a gambler and the granddaughter of a woman with the second sight.
It’s starting to get interesting!

Ask your family members about old stories or unique hobbies.
Research your family line on a site like ancestry.com.

Share with us in the comments what you uncover!

3. Review Your Own Life Story: What are three unique, wild, weird or different things about you?

We all have stories. Look back over your life and pick three fascinating or different things that make you unique.
I did my list here, if you need inspiration.

4. Interview a Long Time Friend or Family Member That You Trust To Fill In The Blanks.

Ask your good friends or family members what their favorite stories or memories are involving you. It can be really interesting to see what they’ll tell you – and things that made a huge impression on them, that you’ve forgotten long ago. It can be encouraging to see ourselves through the eyes of someone who loves and cares for us and hear them describe us.

Knowing who we are are will help give us more confidence and walk forward to our dreams.  Have a great time uncovering all of these questions and share with us in the comments.  Next Monday, we will continue this series together.

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