The Story of Your Life

Posted by Mary Beth Dahl on June 30, 2023

I’ve been working on story 2 of my Silver Rim series, and this past month, I hit a wall. I’ve found in my writing the first thing I come up with is never the right thing. My main character, Ren, needs to learn some lessons, but those lessons are not the ones I originally thought she needed to learn.

She’s supposed to be the hero, complete with all kinds of fighting skills and smarts, but she’s struggling and so am I. The road is long, and the answers aren’t coming. Plus, the enemy is whispering lies and slowly leading me and Ren away from the truth.

The picture is bleak … and familiar.

Not the Story You Dreamed Of

How many of us are finding the road to be long, the questions unanswered, and the struggle real? Our grand aspirations for life just aren’t panning out the way we thought they would, and we’re looking at the clock, thinking our time has passed. I recently overheard a twenty something lament that she had missed her prime. I’m not sure what she was trying to do, but unless it was be captain of the high school cheer squad, my guess is she still has some good years left.

Writing Your Own Ending

I think life is a lot like how I write my stories. It seldom turns out the way we plan. It’s filled with struggles, pain, and uncertainty. And we spend more time getting it wrong than we do getting it right.

And every single one of us can change the ending.

Someone once told me that people can’t change, but change is exactly what we can do. The freedom to choose is beautiful, and it makes all the difference in how the story ends.

My struggle with Ren spurred from me trying to force her into a plot that didn’t flow from who she is. I wanted her to be a warrior, but she wasn’t there yet. I’ve sat long hours just thinking about the story. What should she do here? What if she did this instead of that? Why isn’t she where I want her to be? And I’ve concluded I didn’t know her very well. I didn’t know what she needed, so I had to listen to the story.

Listen to Your Story

Maybe we have to listen to our stories. I believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit is active and working in our lives, but there are no burning bushes or angels standing before us telling us what to do. Instead, there’s us searching the Bible, praying, hoping, trying, failing, and trying again.

And us understanding who we are and why we are the way we are.

We listen to our own stories, look at the breadth of them, and choose life instead of mediocrity or giving up or letting go. There are answers to be found. Purpose to be known, and a beautiful story to be told from your life and mine, but we must take the time to listen and to trust.