In the movie Polar Express there is a scene where a little boy, feeling fearful, a bit rejected, certainly lonely, remains on the Polar Express while all the other children hop off to see Santa.  The children are excited because the Conductor has told them “one of you will receive the first gift of Christmas from Santa.  Who wouldn’t want to get off the train and join the celebration in the town square?  Who wouldn’t want to hope that they would be chosen?

So why does he stay on the train?

Could it be a feeling of unworthiness?  Perhaps he tells himself “I’m never going to be chosen because I’m not tall/short/good/talented/handsome/etc enough”.  There’s a lot of people I meet who seem to let go of an opportunity because of what “they tell themselves”.

“People never believe what you tell them, they might believe what their friends tell them, but they always believe what they tell themselves.” (Tribes by Seth Godin)

So what do you tell yourself…about yourself?  How we talk to ourselves is more important than how anyone else talks to us.  Just because someone tells you, you are too tall/short/…no good/not talented/…not handsome, etc doesn’t mean it is true.  It is no more true than if I told you the world is flat, Google makes typewriters or the world will end in 2012.  What you believe is what you tell yourself.

So why not change the story?  Why not create a new conversation?

It is possible.  Sometimes you just have to be willing to step off the train.