Living a bigger story

"The thing about writing a story, in real life and on paper, is half the effort is just figuring out what the story is going to be." ~ Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

This is where I feel I am. I have had some good stories in my life. But I don't feel like my life itself is a great story. But I don't know what step to take. In some ways I feel that this Lenten experience is about helping me to understand that. To figure out what the next step is in my story. I have been where I am for awhile. And I've said it, and I've prayed it, and I've thought it - it being that question of "What next? What step do I need to take?" But maybe I am focused on the wrong aspect of my story. See I am looking at the aspect of my story that seems to need fixing and the way I think it needs fixed. But maybe my focus is to narrow. Maybe there is a great story waiting for me to live it, but I am so focused in the direction that I want the story to go, the way I think it should go, that I am missing it.

So today I am going to open my eyes more fully and seek the story that is not so obvious. What could be the next step in this journey called life? Where could my story go if I don't try to write it before I live it? Where could my story go if I simply seek to live a great story, not worrying about direction? And, perhaps the biggest question, how do I let go of what I want in a great story, and just focus on the story as a whole, letting the story be whatever story it wants to be?

Artists and authors often say that art pieces and characters in stories have their own minds and they take their creators on the journey. I want my creator to take me on a journey. I want to give my story over, to no longer be the creator of my own story. That doesn't mean I don't take an active role - I most definitely do. But it also means that I don't jump ahead in the story to where I think it should go. Donald Miller also talked about this in the section of the story I read this morning - he was talking about his hike along the Inca trail - it was a long, hard hike. And they knew the whole time that there were easier ways to get there. But when they arrived in Machu Picchu, they appreciated the city all the more because of the journey it took to get there. This is what he said regarding this and story, "The pain made the city more beautiful. The story made us different characters than we would have been if we had skipped the story and showed up at the ending an easier way."

I am trying to jump to the ending of one story in my life. But when I do that, I am limiting my story in 2 ways - 1. I am missing the other aspects of my story because I am so focused on the one direction of my story and 2. I am missing the steps it takes to get to that part of the story because I am so focused on the ending.

So my prayer today is for a bigger story. A story not limited by my understandings of what I want or what I think should be. But a story that lives through me. Here goes!