People of all races and from all cultures throughout the world have been telling stories to teach, inspire, and entertain others—both children and adults—since the beginning of time. As human beings who naturally live in tribes, clans, or communities, we need stories about our world and about others to anchor ourselves, learn and share empathy, form loving, lasting ties and relationships, and make sense of our lives.

We tell stories to ourselves, too. Good ones, bad ones, stories that make us feel better about ourselves, and stories we can fall back on when we need to remember and learn from mistakes. It’s that last one—learning from mistakes—that can have a profound effect on our physical and mental health.

Here’s an example: a man with rheumatoid arthritis has been self-injecting a powerful medication for years. The medicine can burn during and after injection, but he avoids that problem by letting the refrigerated drug warm to room temperature and by icing the injection area until it’s numb beforehand. That way, the injection is always close to painless.

But one day, his mind is on other things. He loves to ride his motorcycle—using this medication improves his RA and allows him to enjoy this hobby and sport—and he’s thinking about his next ride. He’s thinking about where he’ll go, what he needs to do to prepare, whether he should bring a lunch along—all those things you think about while preparing to do something you enjoy.

He takes his medicine out of the refrigerator to warm up. Once it has, he cleans the injection area—his mid-thigh—with an alcohol wipe, places the syringe, and injects.

It feels like a wildfire started in his thigh. The pain is breathtaking, staggering. He hops around the bathroom, whooping, yelling, and even crying it hurts so much. Eventually, though, the injection pain fades. This has never happened to him before! He can’t imagine why it did this time!

And then, he remembers. He forgot to put an icepack on his leg and numb the area first.

He shakes his head at himself and gives himself a little talking to. Never, never forget to do that, he tells himself. He knows he won’t, either, because now he understands from experience what the consequences of forgetting will be. But it occurs to him that he can help others with his story, too. He decides to write about it on his blog about having RA and riding motorcycles. While his burning leg is still fresh in his mind, he sits down and writes his story about the fluffed injection with humor and self-compassion.

A few days later, reader who’s about to start injecting this same medication runs across his blog and his post about his experience. Because she read it, she makes sure she brings her medication to room temperature and ices her leg before she injects.

The injection is simple and painless. She’ll never worry or be fearful about self-injecting again. And because she’s not afraid, she’ll be sure to use and get the most benefit from the powerful drug that treats her RA by slowing the disease’s progression and reducing inflammation. It’s a win-win situation—and a win-win story.

Gentle, humorous anecdotes of mistakes and blunders can be a big help in improving our own health or the health of others. Such stories can fit a million different situations in a million different ways.

Good stories can really lead to good health. For more information about ways to improve your health, click here.