We all have a story. I know it sounds cliché, but each day we wake up, we are given a blank page to write our story on. What is so incredible about life is that everyone’s story is different.
The person sitting next to you on the plane has a story. The person behind the counter at the department store has a story. The person who showed up to fix your dishwasher has a story. We all got ‘em, the key for me and my life’s story is to not let someone else hold the pen.
I am in control of my story, and I wish I could have learned that sooner in life. I hold the pen, and I can write anything I want. Although I cannot control what happens to me most of the time, I can certainly write in my life how I choose to react to it. I can add friends and experiences by adding them to my story. I can also eliminate characters from my story that do not add value to my life. I write my life in erasable ink so I can edit my life as I please.
I can’t erase the past, but I can choose to learn from my mistakes and stop wasting ink on them. By doing that, my story only gets better, with more victorious and less regret. I have the leading role in my life story, and I get to choose how I interact with my supporting cast and other characters.
If I want my story to be about adventure and taking risks, then I need to go on adventures and take risks. If I want my life’s story to be about unconditional giving and service, then I need to give unconditionally and serve others. I could make it all up and write about it anyway, but I don’t want to live a life of fiction.
Maybe your life is a story of perseverance. If so, then it may mean you’ve had to deal with long periods of failure and doubt. Maye your story is about victory. Then one can assume that you have had to deal with a great deal of defeat.
Maybe it’s about reconciliation. Then heartache is something you may have dealt with. Maybe it’s about redemption. Well, more than likely you have busted the chains of the past that were keeping you enslaved.
There may be chapters in your life’s story that are hard to read and difficult to understand. Unfortunately, life does not happen any other way. We have all dealt with darkness, and every great story has a villain who is defeated.
If you are reading this today, then your life’s story is far from over. There are still pages to write and chapters to fill. Don’t let somebody else write your story for you, believe me, some people will try. Just grab a box of pens – I recommend using erasable ink for editing – and begin.
There is always something good to write about when it comes to my life’s story. If get stuck on a page, then I just start a new chapter. It’s my choice, and since I’m holding the pen, I am going to write a good one with a fairy tale ending.
All of our stories here on earth begin with birth and end with death. It’s what is written on the pages of our life in between those two events that matters. I’m not trying to be morbid, that’s reality. However, if I can actually live out my life’s story while being true to myself, then that is a story worth writing about, and a story like that never really never ends.
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Todd Howey is a columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose articles appear on Fridays. Email comments to [email protected].