The Power Of A Story

I love stories.

It doesn't have to be a good story to capture my attention and engage me. Any story which has me see a part of myself is a story worth reading or listening to in my books. As you can imagine I hear a lot of different stories. Every day I'm blessed to have the opportunity to listen to many different people and their stories. The experience is enlightening - I think people would enjoy their lives more if they spent more time listening to other peoples stories.

And not because I could listen to a person's story and feel happy, or think that I'm somehow different or better -precisely the opposite; anothers story is a doorway into my own story.

There are a lot of men and stories out there. There are soldiers returning from war, there are police officers, firefighters, paramedics wounded from front line experiences, there are husbands going through separation, fathers missing their children, executives burning out on the job, sons burying parents, and many guys who wake up every day hoping they were somewhere or someone else.

A guy came to see me the other day and spent the better part of his time trying to convince me that he was broken. "Look," he said, "here are all of the the things I've done and had done to me which prove that I'm broken. Why won't you believe me?" "Can you fix me?" he asked.

"No," I replied, "I can't fix you because you're not broken. I can help you but I won't be able to fix you"

I'm not sure if he'll come back - by the look on his face I'm not sure he believed me.

For me, men are not broken, or bad, and we don't need fixing. We are however able to be:

Disconnected, from people we love, our work and our bodies

Controlling, of our relationships, our feelings, our behaviour, and our image as perceived by others

Afraid, to be honest, to trust friends or family, to be perceived as weak or incapable, to 'get it wrong'

Confused, by how to talk about what is happening to us in ways others can understand, relate and connect to

Alone, in what we believe, understand, and feel.


I remember believing I was broken and experiencing feedback from people around me who told me I needed to be fixed. Being broken never felt quite right to me because I knew that deep inside I was no different than anyone else and rationally speaking, we couldn't all be broken right?

There's a new session of Mens' Group beginning on Tuesday, August 9th, and it will run weekly, every Tuesday until December 20th. In Men's Group we bring together good men and in twenty weeks we give them tools and experiences to experience that inside feeling; the one that knows they are great.

Call me if you're interested in joining us, or if you would like to know more about Group -and, please tell a friend who you know carries a thought that he is broken. You will be changing his life.

journey well,