Recently, I set aside one of my days off to spend some much-needed downtime catching up with a longtime trusted friend and her daughter, with whom I had yet to have the pleasure of meeting. Until that day. It was fun, relaxing and absolutely nourishing for my peace of mind which has been weighed down lately with deadlines and stress of various shapes and sizes. It was just what I needed. At the time, however, I did not get to visit with her older daughter (who turns seven soon, in fact). But what my friend shared with me later resulting from our get-together made my heart smile.
You see, this charming little 7-year-old who I often enjoy indulging with stickers and sticker books (a shared guilty pleasure) was apparently intrigued that the woman she knew as The Sticker Lady wrote books. She asked her mom over dinner “so Chris is a REAL author?’ to which her mom replied “yes,” an idea that evidently intrigued her. It’s fascinating to think that a next-door neighbor or the babysitter could have a story inside of them, too, that they might share with the world. Yes, real, everyday people have something to share. And some do it by writing books. There are a lot of us out there. But there are plenty of others with lots to share and they don’t have to be storytellers to do it.
That reaction at the dinner table my friend shared got me to thinking about what we do — any of us. We can forget about the light we cast with all who fall within our radius of impression. And we sometimes get so overloaded with the details of our jobs and the milestones we’re so busy setting out to achieve that we may forget that others are watching. We have witnesses out there, people who are seeing who we are and what we put out into the universe, and we can be captivating their imagination with something they too may want to do. They may have young, impressionable minds like my friend’s daughter or they may be just people who come into our path and are seeking a new direction, and your own arrow might be helpful in pointing the way.
We don’t have to publish words to tell a story. When we’re teaching algorithms on a whiteboard, counting out twenties at the bank or taking someone’s blood pressure at a doctor’s office, we also tell a story — our own —about something that we love to do or that we think we’re good at doing (or have been told so) or maybe it’s something we simply cannot help but do because we feel so compelled like a true passion or innate calling. If you can’t say that about your job or some passion of yours, then you might need to restart the search yourself.
Let us not forget that when we put our story out into the universe, we have an opportunity to light someone else’s imagination and inspire. Think back to someone who might have inspired you along the way. It’s a pretty exciting concept to consider.
Chew on that one for awhile, and permit yourself to smile. It’s absolutely allowed. ~ Chris
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