A few months back I wrote about my life as a starter. I excel at starting stuff but when it comes to finishing, like the Oilers, I need a lot of work.. I'm already excited about starting a new year, a new decade in fact. 2010. Sounds like such a futuristic year. But its here. Pregnant with possibilities. My mind's already resolving to do... To start.
Get up at 6am. Go to bed at 10. Get lost in the moment. Centre myself. Strengthen my core. Read Dostoyevsky. Run a successful business. Be a family man. Make a difference in my community.
The problem with all these resolutions is unless they're connected to a greater story by February I'll be back on the couch drinking Honey brown and living my life through Jack Shepherd. Donald Miller says he has resolved to no longer make resolutions, instead he' going to live a good story. That makes good sense although part of me wants to just add it to the above list - Live a good story. For Milller, living a good story isn't one more thing we resolve to do but the only thing we do. The list should be defined by the story not vice versa which means as I sit here on January 1, 2010, my focus should not be on making a list but on the kind of story I wish to live. When my great grandchildren hear my story 100 years from now will they be proud? Will they share the story? Will it stay with them, helping to inform their own stories? Or will it be a Grisham? An entertaining yet forgettable read.
Forget that. I'm living a Dostoyevsky.
John
The paradox of insular language
1 year ago
2 comments:
A friend of mine advises that it is the "intentions", not the "resolutions" that makes for lasting positive change in our lives. I have a sense that you will live a very good "story", John. Be patient with yourself and all the "resolutions" will fall into the place defined by the intentions. With regards to your great grandchildren...I suspect the answer will be a resounding "Yes".
the sweet thing is that i was thinking about john grisham the other week, and how i used to go get his newest books from the library because i'd be so excited. but now i can't remember any of them, except for "a time to kill", but mostly because of matthew macoughahoweveryouspellitey's sweet abs and emotional speech at the end, which isn't even in the book. this is irrelevant to your post, but good choice for the fogettableness of it all.
it sounds so easy, to make a better story. i wish it was.
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