Writing a New Story

I just finished Donald Miller's new book "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years". For me, reading Don's work is an experience. His writing stays with me, long after the book is finished. I have been very contemplative while reading it and have read it very slowly.......not wanting the book to ever end.......but it finally did, this evening. I had one short chapter left and I resisted reading it......but the end finally came. So, as I have been reading it over the past few weeks and digesting it, I now am wanting to write about the messages it has given me.

In the book, Don talks about not "having a life", recognizing that his life is boring and that all he does is sit on the couch and watch tv. He begins to learn about the elements of "story" and decides to incorporate story into his life, and thereby creates a much more deep and meaningful existence. In his words, "I've wondered, though, if one of the reasons we fail to acknowledge the brilliance of life is because we don't want the responsibility inherent in the acknowledgment. We don't want to be characters in a story because characters have to move and breathe and face conflict with courage. And if life isn't remarkable, then we don't have to do any of that; we can be unwilling victims rather than grateful participants".
I've been thinking about my own life and I have to admit, I have few regrets. I have always lived my life in a quiet but daring kind of way. I believe it goes back to a scrape with death at age 21, when my appendix ruptured not once, but twice. I laid in bed, post surgery, for two weeks with tubes everywhere, and nothing but time on my hands, to think. (Back then, there were no tvs in hospital rooms). And the doctors told me it was a miracle, I was very lucky to be alive, that no one's appendix ruptures, seals over, and after a month of all that poison in their system, to have it rupture again, and live to tell of it.......And I was sick and afraid and I laid in bed and thought and thought and thought......What would my life have meant if I died at 21? I hadn't accomplished anything, I hadn't even graduated from college yet.....I didn't even really know who I was and what I was meant to do or be........And those thoughts continued on as I continued to recover and to eventually return to college and graduate, and marry, and go back to school, and live my life........always with a sense of awe and wonder and PURPOSE. That medical emergency turned out to be a turning point for me.
So, as I have been reading and pondering Don's book for the last couple of weeks, I have been noticing "people who move and breathe and face conflict with courage" and the images have become like a collage....each its own beautiful picture to me, and all together, a powerful statement. I'd like to share a few of these:

-my 92 year old nursing home resident, who said goodbye to me, knowing intuitively that she would not see me again. She took advantage of our last visit together to let go of some feelings, to forgive some people, and to say thank you and goodbye to me! She came to the realization that she had a life well lived.
-my friend, who at age 48, ran her first marathon. She ran it with purpose and yes, she did complete it. I am so proud of her.
-a woman, who at age 58, decided to "get off the couch" and create a life that involves more than work and coming home and watching tv. She is going out and trying new things and finding happiness in ways she never expected.
-my daughter's friend, Gabrielle, who right now, today, is in New Orleans, spending her summer helping victims of Katrina. She writes about the daily joys and struggles and hopes and fears, in her blog. She went there knowing no one and is facing significant hardship. She learns something new every day.
-my oldest daughter, who is about to complete her first year of medical school. Being a physician and serving the underserved is her passion and her calling. It has been a difficult year, as is expected, but for her especially given that she left home and moved to a new city and started medical school THREE DAYS after being at a horrific shooting scene where three women died (as mentioned in my previous posts).
-an established health care professional who is pursuing his passion for music by writing and performing, "putting himself out there", and thereby facing many fears.
-a young woman dealing with the grief of a siblings suicide and struggling to bring good, purposeful action out of the tragedy.

These are each snapshots of courage. All of these people are just "normal" people. They all "got up off the couch" and started living in a more purposeful way, even if it was just to complete the final days of their life (as with my 92 year old patient). They are unwilling to be victims of a situation but are finding purpose. They have decided to "write a better story".

In closing this post, I will again quote Donald Miller, who says it far better than I ever could, "We have to get up off the couch and turn the television off, we have to blow up the inner-tubes and head to the river. We have to write the poem and deliver it in person. We have to pull the car off the road and hike to the top of the hill. We have to put on our suits, we have to dance at weddings....."