Would you read the story you are writing?
You are writing a story, your life story and your life story is important. The most important story you will ever have the chance to write. Have your ever thought about the story you are writing?
Would it excite you, would you be so interested you couldn’t put it down? Is it full of joy, does it have an impact, does it leave you thinking wow, that made a difference?
It is the biggest story you will ever have a chance to be a part of. Are you consciously writing it or are you thinking it is just being written and you are just playing a part?
I just finished reading “A Million Miles In A Thousand Years” Donald Miller and then a couple of days later I read this blog post by Chris Brogan. I highly recommend reading the book as a primer to thinking about just how you want your story to go.
Are you waiting for your story to get interesting? Are you thinking that someday it will? That maybe after this happens or that, it will get interesting or more enjoyable. Like when you have a better job or more money or the right partner.
Your life story gets interesting because you decide to consciously write a story that is interesting. Your life story has impact because you decide to consciously write a story that has impact. Your life story is full of joy because you decide to consciously write a story that is full of joy.
Your life is the story, you are the author. Make it one that excites you. Think about the impact you have the opportunity to make. Don’t let the story go untold. You have a chance to write a story that is full of joy. That impacts the lives of others, that is read and remembered for years to come.
Don’t wait to get started, there are no rewrites.
You know, I heard a calculation somewhere, that there have been something like 150 billion people who have ever lived on earth, since the beginning of the species. You can’t tell me there have been 150 billion stories so interesting you couldn’t put it down. I doubt there have been 150 million. The average person is going to have a moderately fulfilling life, with pretty pedestrian and not altogether unexpected death-bed regrets. Anything even slightly better than this will be fine for me. I refuse to be left disheartened because my life is less than transformatively blissful and orgasmic all the time. History is written by a small fraction of the population. And if I’m not among them, it’s just no skin off my nose.
Rick, I appreciate your input, I also listened to your audio rebuttal (click here to hear Rick’s audio rebuttal) and I can see your point. I do believe reading the book might add more to your viewpoint. Writing your story is not necessary about creating a page turner for someone else — only yourself, consciously creating the story that is important to you, rather than letting life pass by missing out on the opportunities to make a difference. The book has many examples and yes, some are major but many are small and are about making a difference between husband and wife or within the family.
So I DO absolutely agree with you we are NOT all going to live some grandiose “Mother Teresa” or movie star life. We do however have the opportunity to consciously write our story rather than just letting it be written by day to day events as if we have no control. Writing your own is definitely NOT about making it constantly blissful or orgasmic.
Thank you Rick for having the courage to speak up and share a differing opinion — THAT IS part of writing your own story!