Live it out, little one.
Step into story, your story.
Think of your favorite characters and the why.
What unfolds, enfolds, finds us where it counts.
What we consume will consume us.
Character counts. Consequences cascade from choices made.
Constraints can call us to attention. Restraint grows self-control.
Leaning in to listen lends to learning and sturdy confidence makes way for poised self-actualization.
A best story isn’t a flawless story.
Embrace emotions and welcome wonder.
Find the blank page and write it large.
My Story Is My Best Story.
A best story is a real story.
One with multiple faces and faceted by myriads of depths. For we can only make others known as deeply as we know ourselves.
Wisdom is won through fits and starts, failures and successes. Jointly. Not all one or all the other.
Stand up for your story.
Stand up to your storyΒ
Separate what happened to you from who you are happening.
Highlight your favorite chapters. Underline pithy quotes. Dog-ear some pages. Bookmark others.
Sit with the illustrations. Name which ones bring you utter delight. Hug where there is sadness. Become curious when pages or illustrations alike try to shame your story.
Perhaps tear out a page or two. Rewrite a chapter. Tape pages together if you too often revisit to your detriment.
Notice who’s named in the dedications. Drop them a thank you note. Likewise, notice who isn’t on this page.
Lament some losses. Laugh where the paragraphs play out lovely. Who cares if it’s a bestseller? Makes the New York Times. No, rather, write it for the little tow-headed boy riding his bicycle in your backyard. Scrawl story for the tween leaving McDonald’s trash in your backseat.
Put it on Post-Its for the teenager with the upcoming tryouts searching frantically through her closet.
Brush your fingers across the title lettered in gold.
It is yours, all yours. It matters more than you know, little one. You matter more than will ever be communicated to you. Sing, even off-key. Dance, even out of rhythm. Laugh until you snort through your nose. Wail, loud and long, until the sorrow sorts itself through your soul. Do not let yourself believe for even one minute that your best story does not matter.
Our stories are hard; it’s true. But there’s a Master Storyteller who delights in our delight.
Live into your story that matters. Run through the sprinkler with abandon. Tip generously at Starbucks. Sponsor a child through Compassion. Drop off your excess at Goodwill.
Build martin houses in your backyard. Buy the motorcycle you’ve secretly always wanted. Share fajitas. Enjoy immensely every single bite of the chips and queso.
Go sit in your favorite coffee shop seat every Friday morning. Create reels. Do good. Take photos of butterflies. Buy another instrument and add to your collection. Textbomb your spouse or your best friend.
Set up a tent in your backyard. Scratch your puppy behind the ears.
Swat the mosquitoes and sing in the rain. Shudder at the grasshoppers scratchy feet and applaud the sunset stretched scarlet with fiery dabs of orange and ochre from horizon to horizon. Ask questions and learn always. Practice perspectives and praise often. Drop off donuts. Drive with your windows down. Hang bathtowels to flap on the line and clap your hands when you find fun mail right between the bills. Organize an art show. Write poetry that pleases you. Recognize your restlessness and ask a friendly why. Name what makes you happy. Do this more. Find the beauty, no matter where it’s hidden, in this, your best story.
There’s a stack of leather bound volumes on his nightstand. They all have gold-lettered titles. He’s reading them. He’s writing them. He’s co-authoring them with the storytellers behind each best story. Each one is his absolute favorite. His to-be-read holds volumes and they’re just the same as his already-read-and-loved-them.
He turns. Ah, there you are little one. Let’s read the next chapter. His strong fingers flip through the pages, find the place we’re at. His eyes glow. βWho will we find inside? I can’t wait to see. And I wonder, what are you delighting in? What’s been discouraging? What direction are we going? What will this page hold? Isn’t this the best story ever?!β