The Power of Your Story

I was recently reminded of the power of our stories. The power of sharing our own experiences with those around us - with those we love.

It was a Saturday afternoon. My cousin and I were sitting at my parent's kitchen table listening to my Grandpa. I don't know how things got started. But I know I stayed because of the story my Grandpa was telling.

For the next while, my cousin and I listened and asked a few questions, while my Grandpa shared a portion of his life story with us. Some of it I had heard before, but much of it I had not.

There's something different about listening to someone tell their own story. About hearing it from their perspective. Possibly even more so when it's someone you know and love telling the story.

I walked away from that conversation with a precious memory. Time with Grandpa is likely not going to happen for too many years more. So I will embrace the times I get to do that.

It reminded me of another precious memory from my teenage years. We were at my great-grandparents wedding anniversary. Towards the end of the party, I found myself at a table with old photo albums with my Grandma and my Great-Grandpa. My Great-Grandpa was sharing his memories of where and why the picture was taken and who the people were. I didn't know at the time that only a couple months later I would be back at my Great-Grandpa's funeral.

But, I've never forgotten that time. Hearing the story of my Great-Grandpa's life.

There's power in sharing our stories with others. There's meaning in those times where we learn about what life was like for those we know and care about.

So, what is your story?

And who are you sharing it with?

Being a Writer

This post is a bit of a change from what I usually post here. For almost a year I've been a part of an online writing community that encourages and challenges one another in our writing. One of the other member of that community is hosting a writing contest on his blog and I've decided to join in. With that said, I'm participating in "Writing Contest: You Are a Writer" over at Positive Writer.



I've been writing a blog for almost 5 years now. And I was writing without sharing it with anyone for a number of years that.

But, I never would have called myself a writer.

I work in accounting. I'm a numbers person. I never liked anything to do with writing in school. I took math classes for fun instead.

I thought there was no way a person like that could be a writer.

So, when people told me I should write, I shrugged it off. I never gave it much thought.

At least, outwardly I did. But the thought didn't really leave my mind. I kept thinking about it. And dreaming about it. I never told anyone. I just kept thinking about it and I kept posting things here.

I always thought it would happen one day. One day I would be a writer. One day I would write something that was worthy of being published.

In the fall, I came across an opportunity to get involved with this writing community. I learned a lot. And I'm still learning lots.

I was challenged to begin to call myself a writer. I was told that the difference between being a writer and not being a writer was whether you wrote or just thought about writing things. I had never looked at it that way before.

I always thought you had to have a book published to be a writer. But, I've come to see how you don't have to have a book to be a writer. You have to write something and share it with other people. It's not a book, but I publish something every time I post something on my blog. Having a book published is a goal of many writers, but you can be a writer before that happens.

Shortly after that, I wrote a post I had been thinking about writing for a while. I wrote about something near to my heart and I wrote boldly about it. I knew not everyone would agree with what I wrote. But for the first time I stepped out and wrote about something that was dangerous for my to write about.

I hit publish on that post.

And shared it with the world.

That was when I started to see myself as a writer.

I haven't completely arrived as a writer. I still have a long way to go to fall into the category of a good writer. But I'm a writer nonetheless. And I will become a better writer the more I write.

The Blessing of Real Friendships

I just got home from having coffee with a friend. As I was driving home, I started reflecting on friendship.

Much has been said about friendship. And much of it by people who are probably considered more qualified than me to talk about it.

But, I don't profess to be an expert on most of what I write here, so I will share my thoughts.

Friendship is important in our lives. We all need friends. And we all need to be friends to others.

And not just people who say they're our friends. But people who really are our friends.

Sometimes I wonder if calling people we're connected with through social media "friends" has cheapened our understanding of what friendship really is.

Friendship isn't about lots of people knowing our every move. Friendship isn't about what's in it for us.

Real friendship is about really allowing people to know you and really knowing them. It means you are real. It means you have people in your life who can ask you the tough questions and who you can ask the tough questions to. It means you have people in your life who know the good and the bad in your life, but still choose to be your friend and love you.

Real friends stick with you through the tough times. They're the people you can count on to pray for you, to celebrate with you, to sit with you when things are hard, to call you on things when that's what you need.

The blessing of real friendship is that it's not based on surface-y stuff. It's based on something deeper. And we need that in our lives.

How are you doing at being a real friend to the people in your life?