Life Story

I absolutely loved my experience at the Storyline Conference last week. (it's hard to believe it's been a week already!) (why is it the good times fly and the bad times drag?) I learned so much about story. Did you know for example that the best stories always, absolutely always contain bad parts? No seriously, if you think back to your favorite movies or books it's usually about a character (usually a character you've come to adore) who overcame some amazing set of circumstances to triump or win in the end. Any great story has a standard set of elements: * a character * a conflict * a climactic scene * and a resolution Whether you are a budding writer (like myself) or not, this is something you should understand if you want to understand your life. Why? Because your life is a story. When all your loved ones gather around in your honor, when your dead and gone do you know what they will share? Stories. Stories from your childhood. Stories from your workplace. Your kids will tell stories, your friends, your spouse... they will gather around casseroles dressed in black and they will regale each other with their version of your story. What kind of story will they tell? (seriously think about it for minute) I want a certain kind of story to be told about me. I want people to say I was generous, and a good friend, and a spectacular mother, and a brave soul (who put all her thoughts out there on the world wide web). I want my loved ones to laugh when they talk about me. I want to have made them laugh. I want my employer to testify to my children that I had a good work ethic. I want everything I said I would do to be done. I don't want anyone to think my word is not good. I want people to know I loved them...that I genuinely cared. Will they say these things about me? Is this a morbid blog entry? All I know is the way I live my life now...today creates the story I want to be told about me. The choices I make today, the places I go and the people I see and the activities I engage in are all weaving together to tell the story of my life. I believe I am partnering with God to write my life story. I believe that. I believe this life matters for something. I believe that my life is going to be a great story. How do I know? Well, now I'm aware of the storytelling process and I am brutally conscious that my life has had it's own share of conflicts. I will do my part to make sure that when the curtain calls on my life it will have been a fantastic tale of heroism. May it be said of me someday, "What a life!" "What a story of truimp!" "My how she overcame the bad and celebrated the good!" Yes. May it be said.