Who's Writing Your Story?

What we are living through right now will be talked about for generations to come. Much like when you were in school and learned about historical events that shaped the country and even the world, one day students will read about the very thing we are living everyday. Now, I’m sure that doesn’t bring you any comfort because it doesn’t provide solutions right now but it does lead me down a line of thinking.

The thing about history books is that the perspective is in the hands of the author. Consider 9/11. Nearly every American can tell you where they were when it happened. Given that it’s been nearly 19 years since that fateful day, the day that changed so much for us and the way we travel, is already in school history books. How would that story read if it were told by the attackers? Would the narrative read much different than how we remember it? Of course it would!

My work from home order lasted exactly 100 days. Crazy, right? I like numbers, data, and statistics and I found that 100 days is 3 months & 8 days; 14 weeks & 2 days; 2400 hours; 144,00 minutes. Here’s one that stopped me dead in my tracks: 27.32% of the year. Yeah! An entire quarter of a year. Did I handle all of that time well emotionally? Absolutely not! Do I still feel uncertain, unsettled, and a little anxious a lot of the time? Yep!

Yet, what I have been thinking on the past couple of days is a question that I pose to us: who is writing our story? I know that we are living in the weirdest, most wild time of this generation. There are times it feels like we take one step forward and two steps back. Things that are out of our control have literally had an impact on every single facet of life. Will a global pandemic be a PART of your story in this season of life? Without question! But will it be your WHOLE story? Why do I ask this? Because you and I are the ones who choose how to frame and give perspective to what we go through.

When there is space, a story fills it. The space between what you know and what you think you know sometimes is the story that you tell yourself that keeps you stuck. In other words, our insecurities and past hurts start filling the silence and we feel dejected. Someone may have rejected you at one point in your life based on how they felt about themselves and you took it as indication of your value. You tell yourself, “They walked out of my life – there must have been something wrong with me”.  That’s THEIR story, not yours and you don’t have to own it. Poisonous relationships can alter your perception. You can spend years being made to feel worthless but you were never worthless — you were under-appreciated. Don’t get stuck owning other people’s thoughts and emotions about you.

You don’t get to choose every situation but you do get to choose the story you tell yourself.  

Life will give you a lot of suffering but why choose to amplify that suffering by the story that you are telling yourself? What you’re going through is hard enough, what you’re dealing with is heavy enough without telling yourself a story that things will never get better and all hope is lost.

What stories are you holding onto that are old that are keeping you from what’s new and what’s now; what’s true and what’s real? Don’t quit in the middle of the story because you’re discouraged in the middle of a scene. Don’t stop at the comma in the sentence of your story. A comma tells us there is more – it’s not a period!

What if what you went through wasn’t meant to destroy you, but to develop you? What if everything you are going through is preparing you for what you asked for? Embrace it all. Every flaw and imperfection. Every wound and broken place. Every season. Nothing is wasted. Everything belongs in the story of you. Grace means that all of our mistakes serve a purpose instead of serving shame. 

Don’t be ashamed of your story. Tell the story of the mountain you climbed. Talk about your scars. Your words could be a page in someone’s survival manual. It just might inspire someone to keep going.

*I’m taking a summer break! Talk to you on Sunday, September 6!*