Episode 12
Keep Telling the Same Story? It's Okay If You’re Still Processing
Some stories rise up again and again. You tell them in conversations, in quiet moments, or when something unexpectedly brings them back. And maybe you wonder – shouldn’t I be past this by now?
This short reflection offers a gentle reminder: repetition doesn’t mean you’re stuck. It means you’re still making meaning.
Telling the same story is one way our minds and hearts process what we’ve been through.
It’s how we soften the edges of something that once felt unbearable.
You don’t need to rush your healing or silence your story. You can keep telling it – until it tells you something new.
Transcript
00:05
Hey, this is It's Okay If, bite-sized permission slips. I'm Matt Gilhooly, and today's permission, it's okay if you keep telling the same story. Maybe you've noticed it, that story that comes up again and again and again. Maybe it's the one about the breakup or the job that didn't work out or the thing that broke your heart in a way you just can't quite explain.
00:33
And maybe part of you wonders, why am I still talking about this? Why haven't I moved on? I get it, because I've been there too. For me, it's the story of losing my mom, or the story of losing my grandmother, or the story of Mikey's passing. They come up in conversations, in podcast episodes, in moments when I didn't expect them to. And sometimes I catch myself thinking, am I stuck?
01:03
Shouldn't I be past this by now? But here's what I've learned. Telling the same story, it's not about being stuck. It's about processing. It's about making meaning. It's how we turn the raw edges of our experiences into something that we can hold. And sometimes we have to tell it a hundred times before it softens, before it integrates, before it finds this new shape.
01:31
So today, if you notice yourself telling the same story again, that's okay. That's part of the work. That's part of the healing. So if you're up for it, tell yourself, I give myself permission to keep telling the story until it tells me something new. That's your permission slip, friend. Tuck it in your pocket and I'll see you next time.
