Write Their Story- Or Not...

I'm participating in a writing challenge for 31 days. To be honest, I don't feel like writing. I really want to be asleep, because it's been a day and tomorrow isn't looking to be much better, but I usually stink at follow-through and I know if I let one day slide it'll turn into two, and then three, and then this space will be blank like it was for much of last year. I know there are so many things I need to do, but my heart tells me that writing, even if nobody else reads it, is something that I need to do for me.

The prompt for today's challenge is to write someone else's story. There are so many people I could choose for my topic, but they all seem so personal. It's good to put ourselves in the shoes of others, to try on their perspective, but to pretend like we can relate to how they are feeling seems presumptuous to me.

So here I sit, with a tad touch of writer's block, around 400 words to write to meet my challenge, and I can't help but think that's just like life.

We get stuck and can't find our way.

Don't know how to take the next step.

Are afraid to presume too much... or maybe we do presume too much and it leads us in the wrong direction.

The thing is, everyone around us who seems to be on the fast track goes through the same thing. They get stuck, too.

But unless we allow ourselves to look deep into who they are, we'll never see it.

It's easy to get frustrated with someone when it seems like they've got the world being handed to them, or when it feels like you are the only one making an effort.

But you don't see the back story.

We don't know what goes on behind closed doors. As I wrote in a previous post, we have no idea what an impact we can make just by listening and noticing, because a person is so much more than what they appear to be.

One of my favorite quotes is to "Fake it until you make it.' (I read somewhere we should change it up and say, "Faith until you make it", but let's be honest, I'm much better at fake than faith, even though I wish I wasn't).

I'd be willing to bet that a vast majority of people who seem to have it all together are faking it...

and inside, their in just as much as a tailspin as me.

Yet we write our own version of their story and allow it to color our impression of them... and sometimes our impression of us.

Here's the thing. While I understand this exercise was a means of creativity, of imagination, of forcing me as a writer to get into another mindset, the direction I'm leaning into tonight is this...

Write your own story. More importantly, let God write your story. And be avid readers of other people's stories... not editors. Not critics. But the kind of readers who dive into a fiction novel just for the love of words. The type of reader who voraciously consumes a book on his or her favorite topic just to gain new insight. Read their stories with eyes wide open, with an open heart and an open mind. Read between the lines, too, because that's often some of the most important information... that, and the fine print.

Allow their story to change you in a positive way. And use your story for change, too.

We all have a story to write... won't you share yours?