Just like those unfinished manuscripts, our lives are a lot like those stories. We wonder how our own stories will end.
My own story up to this point has a lot of plot twists, dramatic moments and filled with comedy - both intentional and unintentional. I have had moments that I like to remember and chapters of my life I wish I could edit and rewrite.
So where do we go from here?
We hold the pen in writing our story from here. It doesn’t matter what we have done before whether it be disappointments, heartaches or difficulties, we can write a different story in our next chapter.
Early in my story I didn’t think too much of myself. I was ruled by the opinion of others. I gave others my pen to write my story. I lived a miserable life because I wasn’t the person I wanted to be. It wasn’t until I decided to take my pen back and start writing my own story that I found myself. My true self. Not the one other people wanted me to be. Honestly, it shouldn’t have taken so long to do that.
People will never understand how hard it was to grow up as a preachers’ kid. My life was a fish bowl. I was forced to measure up to how everyone thought a preacher’s kid should be. It was all about rules and unreasonable expectations. I was instantly tagged by bullies and ridiculed by others. I was judged instantly without being known for who I was.
I allowed others to write my story based on how they saw me. I never wrote it from a first person perspective.
In our lives, we can write our own story. We control the ending.
I often think of people who are contemplating suicide. I want to ask them if they are curious to how things are going to turn out? Although their life might look bad at this moment in their lives but what will it be tomorrow? Next week? Next year?
Certainly, there are a lot of things that we can’t control. We have to navigate around these things and make our story OUR story.
Years ago, I locked onto a quote from a movie. It was “Isn’t it time to be who you are?”
That was a turning point in my life. That’s why I made the decisions I made to take control of my pen and write my story.
Do you know what’s even better? We don’t have to write our story alone. We have a God that is with us and cares about everything in our lives. In fact, He cares so much that He knows how many hairs we have on our head. (Luke 12:7) He will help us to write our story and is always with us even until the end of the story. (Matthew 28:20) That should encourage us. He will guide us in our story if we let Him.
The best way to write your story from here is to let go of the past. The past is in the past. Leave it there. Forgive those who hurt you and don't hold onto mistakes you have made. Chart a better course. In writing, we like to insert a page break to start a new chapter. Insert a page break in your life and write a new chapter.
The pen that writes your life story must be held in your own hand.
Irene C. Kassorla
