Do you know how you can hear an idea from somewhere and the idea sticks in your brain but the source doesn't?! I was watching/listening to something during the past few days and they asked a question that really stuck out to me - "What is the story of your life you are writing?"
I'm actually a huge fan of stories because I love how they shape us. It's part of the reason I am always very curious about people's tattoos because almost all the time there is a great story connected to a person's tattoo! And that's how I tend to think about a person's life story, it's from the past. Their story is what has happened so far in their life which has helped to mold and shape them into the current person they are now.
So, when this question was posed in the future-tense related to story, I think that's why it stood out to me! If my story isn't complete but is still unfolding, it means I get to be an active participant in helping to shape it each day of the rest of my life. Regardless of what may have happened in my past, whether that be through the choices of others or the ways I chose to respond to life events, and regardless of what life may throw at me today or tomorrow, I get to be an active participant in shaping my story as it continues to unfold.
I guess another way to express this revelation I felt would be to say that most of the time I think about my story as being something that happens to me from a passive perspective, rather than me getting to be an active participant in it. And while it is true there are a lot of things that come into my life that I have no control over, I get to decide what I am going to do with them once they arrive. I get to choose how to respond. I get to decide how to act and react. I get to be the one who helps to form and make meaning from what life brings my way, and that feels very empowering!
If I were to ask you today, "What's your story," would your tendency to be like me and think about what's already happened? What if you could shift your vision of your story today to a more future-focused perspective - one in which you are empowered to help shape it? What kind of an impact would that have on your outlook today?
What story are you writing today?
Be Well,
Stephen
PS - That's a cool tattoo! Tell me about it.
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