Telling Your Life Story And Writing A Book
What’s the story of your life? At what time did you feel happiest? I ask authors in my book-writing program: What’s the most meaningful story you have to tell the world? Your life is made up of a chain of similar stories that somehow link together. Regardless of whether you classify each story as a success or failure, it’s just a story. Your life’s story is a story you own and carry with you everywhere you go. No matter how far you venture away from home, you’ll always bring yourself with you. In your luggage you carry the entire weight of your collection of stories. The weight of a story is made up of the feelings and emotions you’ve added to the story: the fear, anger, sadness, happiness, and every other emotion associated with that story. Until you decide to let those emotions go, you’ll have a heavy backpack to carry. One way of letting go is forgiving yourself. You can choose to let go of the blame and negative emotions associated with the stories of the past. Everything else will take care of itself.
The Story
We all have experienced or learned something significant in life. We all have a story that, when shared, will be of value to the world. But instead of sharing our story, we compare ourselves to others. This kind of jealousy causes self-disgust. Comparing is the fastest way to feel inferior and lose our self-esteem. We forget about the benefits of what we’ve learned in the process. Comparing creates separation. Everybody struggles his or her own battles but that doesn’t make your story any less important. Do not think anyone else is better or worse than you. Making comparisons can spoil your happiness. In comparing our story to others, we fail to see we’re on our own unique path. Your life is a unique, never to be repeated event. Instead of comparing your story to others, write it down. I help budding authors get past that blank page, and give them a structure to put the story they own down on paper. It’s a powerful process. Something they’ll say will have the power to change somebody’s life. Maybe not the entire story, but a piece of it. That’s the basic concept my book writing course is based on. Just like that, at least a small piece of your story will resonate with what someone else is going through right now, in his or her own way.
Out of your head, and down on paper
Everyone has a story to share that not only deserves to be heard, it’s your moral imperative to get it out there. Not sharing your life lessons, keeps that experience locked up in your mind. Nobody can benefit from it there. In not going after what you really want, who are you letting down? Not only are you letting yourself down, but who else? Who in your environment are you not supporting by not going after your dream? As I tell my authors, the goal is not to replicate Shakespeare, as that would be another bad comparison to make. The goal is to get your story out of your head, and down on paper. Only when your story is written down it has the impact to touch somebody else’s life, and help them on their unique path. Chances are it will not be the book in it’s entirety that’ll change someone’s life, it’ll be that one paragraph, or even one sentence, that’ll give someone a new viewpoint, make them think, and ultimately help them along on their journey. By not sharing your story, not writing your book, you’ll never write that one sentence that has a significant, beneficial impact on somebody else.
Your Book: Time to write it down
Is it time to get started on your story, and write it down? Whether you decide to publish your life story in a book, or just talk more about what truly matters at the water cooler at work, you have a choice in what to share. Sharing your story helps you letting go those painful memories from the past that will block your growth. The past isn’t fixed. Telling your story will help you reframe the limiting beliefs you’ve been holding on to in your life. You’re no longer the person you used to be. You can focus on what parts of the story you share, and how. The story is about the core of your life, the things you build your life around that matter. It might just be that one sentence, but it’ll make a difference to someone.
This post contains a story from my new book, The Freedom Project Love 2.0. The books introduces an upgraded view to the way humans relate to each other. It’s available on Amazon, Amazon Canada, Barnes & Noble and finer book retailers worldwide. For those who like ebooks (not me), it’s also available on Amazon Kindle. To learn more about the Freedom Project series please visit www.freedomprojectbook.com. Thanks for your support!