Monday, August 24, 2009

What's Your Story?

Everyone has a story. Put another way, everyone’s life is a story. Our personal stories are important to consider. Too often we neglect our story, or try to capture it in very simple or trite phrases like, “I couldn’t be doing better.” Many times this is a diversion technique that is used to distract a person from getting to close too the real story that is being written in our lives. There is often a discomfort in relating what is really going on because we can’t quite figure out how what we are experiencing now fits into the big picture.

For many of us, we really don’t know what to say, when someone says, “how’s it going?” Do they really want not to know? Are they interested? And, then the cold chill rises within us because we really do not know what to say. We don’t know what to respond because we have never taken time to consider our story – this has been my case!

Take a moment and consider… each person is very unique, having passed through many special experiences like no one else on earth. Consider when you were born, to whom, what your parents were like – who was your Mom and who was your Dad? Consider what growing up was like, friends, school, what games did you play and who with? These are all parts of our stories. These environments and experiences all have meaning, they are not random scenes that all pile up forming ‘your life’s story.’

Both your story and mine have unique characters, surprising plot twists, central themes, tension and suspense, and deep significance. As we think about our lives we can quickly see that they are truer, filled with more laughs and pain and more exciting than the best fiction novel.

I’m setting aside some extra time these days to study and understand my life story. There has been an Author that has been directing our stories to go towards a very specific destination. I realize that the writer of my life does not want me to just settle back and not be aware of what has been written… nor for me to merely be a reader… he’s preparing me to co-author my future.

Notes:

1. The embedded video was produced for Olympus Pen - in celebration of their 50 years of being in business. The video, however, is far more than a commercial, it displays a life story that is unfolding with many twists and turns. Our life, while not including the same events, follows a similar path... I think it would be worthwhile to take time to consider your story. Your story is worthy of reading.
2. To read more about how to read your story, I recommend the following book: "To Be Told", by Dan B Allender, PHD