Life Like a Story

June 8, 2013

There are many kinds of books and as many kinds of book lovers. So please read the following from your own perspective and not through my eyes.

You know that feeling when you pick up a good book, and you just can’t put it down? You know the feeling when you get to the end and desperately hope that the author writes a sequel, or another book as good as the one you just put down? I love that feeling. That’s how I want to feel about my life.

A good book isn’t all about highs. The story has to have tension, context and emotion created by the contrasting of highs and lows, tragedy, reconciliation,  and jubilation. A good life is like that too. I’ve seen a great deal of that spectrum over the last few years. I don’t write as much about the bad stuff because… well because I don’t want to bum you out. But it happens, and while we don’t actively love those parts I do recognise that without them the breathtakingly amazing stuff we experience would not be as dramatically awesome!

So here’s my advice to you. If you have the capacity to read this blog, and you aren’t sitting in a library or some other public computer, you probably have the rare luxury to live a storybook life. It doesn’t mean that you will sail the 7 seas, or climb Everest. Some of my friends that I admire the most live quieter lives, or travel extensively in short bursts as work allows, or build amazing things. Each of these lives is a story. The very most interesting of them require a modicum of planning and commitment though. If we don’t think about our lives as a cohesive story, I fear our chances of living our most interesting expression of ourselves will be slight.

So take a moment now. Think about the life you have lived so far. What is the dominant theme? Can you make a story of it? If not, do you have the time, energy and desire to change your course? If so, how can you focus the time you have remaining to make that story epic? Don’t try to be somebody else. Be authentic and powerful. There will always be a reader for your story, so live an epic one. Live the story that you want to keep reading!

4 comments

  1. Comment by Mike Schock

    Mike Schock June 14, 2013 at 9:55 am

    Just came across your blog yesterday.

    It’s interesting that you mention living life like a story that you just can’t put down. I recently read a book that discussed this very concept. It’s called “A Million Miles In A Thousand Years” by Donald Miller.

    Just thought you might like to know.

    May your story be the epic you continue to dream of.

    Mike.

    • Comment by Tucker Bradford

      Tucker Bradford June 18, 2013 at 2:13 am

      Thanks Mike, I’m going to put that one on my book list!

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