In my last trail tip “Your Story Part 1 of 2”, I wrote about how our life is a story we write every day and that some foundational pillars apply to all forms of stories and they include: the author, wanting to be liked, and the next chapter. Now we will look at how we can begin to understand and unpack the story of other people’s life along with story of our own lives.
We start by asking what are the 5 words that would describe the story of your live? This is a great exercise to do one on one or in a small group with other. It can work with a new friend you are getting to know as well as with friends you have known for years. When asked by Arlene (my wife), what are my 5 words, I said: Adventure, Family, Faithfulness, Relationships, and Growth. Note that these are words that need to come from your gut and heart. If you think about them too long, you are not giving your truest answer.
Now that you know the 5 words, you can start unpacking them. And of course, I would unpack them in context of hiking, personal, and work life. It’s taking one of the 5 words and putting it to examples in your own life. For me, let’s take the word Adventure.
In hiking, I like to make every hike a new adventure. It’s showing friends a now trail for the first time or taking time to explore an off-shoot trail. It can also be stopping to explore a different overlook. We get so busy needing to get our miles in with limited time, I fail to think about why I’m hiking in the first place. Acknowledging “adventure” is one of the words in my story reminding me to take time for adventure on my hikes.
In my personal life, adventure is played out on trips I’ve taken. Riding my 10-speed bicycle 1,800 miles from Kansas City to Boston in 1980, running marathons in the early 1990s, family road trips to California (twice), St. John’s Newfoundland, and several trips to Florida, hiking across the Grand Canyon in one day. Again, knowing adventure is one of my story words, is like the cairns we see on a trail. A heap of stones piled up as a memorial or as a landmark (Merriam-Webster). They are markers to help keep me on a trail.
At work, am I just doing my day to day work or am I seeking out new adventures? Do I take time to explore new aspects of my work to learn new things? Adventure goes with excitement. How do we build excitement into our daily work lives?
This is just one example of how we can be challenged in our lives to live out our story words. It’s asking ourselves are we on the path living out our story words. And it’s allowing others to read our life stories; challenging us to keep on our path.
Al Andersen 