You have a story. Are you willing to tell it?
Our lives are a book filled with stories of the victories, setbacks, relationships, and special moments that we experience. When we convey those stories to others, often those people can identify with them and benefit from the life lessons we have learned, sometimes the hard way.
“We learn best – and change – from hearing stories that strike a chord within us.” (John Kotter)
Some stories come about when we suffer through bad times or make mistakes. Others result from situations that work out well or when circumstances create a learning moment. For example, here is a personal story taken from the book STEPS:
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Making amends with my kids seemed difficult at first, even out of place. After all, I’m the grown up, the parent, the one in charge; aren’t I supposed to have it all together? It was hard enough learning to show forgiveness when they messed up. Should I let them see that I made mistakes too? It turns out (surprise) they already knew.
My hope was that if I started to confess my mistakes, it would help my kids become comfortable doing the same. Plus, I wanted to be approachable so that they would be able to come to me rather than bottle issues inside.
Once I was clued in that making amends with my kids was a good thing to do, I started to be alert for opportunities to ask their forgiveness. I learned it was not as difficult as I had feared. My boys showed more understanding and grace than I ever expected.
As parents, our responsibility is to try and be a model for how God wants us to live. Amazingly, God can use even the mistakes we make to help us do that.
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This STEPS Journey Blog will at times feature personal (perhaps anonymous) stories from people who want to help others learn from experiences they have been through. You can see a few examples by going to the STEPS Journey Blog and clicking on the category titled “STEPS Stories” on the right navigation bar.
“Telling stories is the way the wisdom gets passed along. The stuff that helps us to live a life worth remembering.” (Rachel Naomi Remen)
You have a story in you, and you can use it to help other people. And it’s easy! Just send me an email at stevecward@lifeimprovementsteps.com and say you are willing. If you can think of a situation you have experienced that produced some type of life lesson, we can talk about it for a few minutes and put the story together.
Or, go to the LifeImprovementSteps website Home page to the section on “We All Have a Story to Share,” and click on the link for “uploading your story today.” Either way, you’ll control how the story reads, and it can be anonymous if you prefer.
You do have a story to tell, and it can help other people–if you are willing to share it.
Can you think of one story you have lived that might be of benefit to others?
Action: Send an email to stevecward@lifeimprovementsteps.com to start the process.
Photo by New York Public Library
Photo by BiblioArchives / LibraryArchives 
