I have had a ragged day; so, in search of inspiration I went to the web and just threw in the words “nothing to say.” It turns out there is a song with that title, who knew? The song is a pretty dreary one, but it sparked a thought in me worthy of our time.
“The greatest story ever told” are five words in that song. I have no idea what the composer had in mind, but for me the first peace I have had today came from those words. I think each of us is living the greatest story ever told. Yes, you and me, we are it. Who else is there? Do you really think it is someone from the past whose story has been distorted to the point of being unrecognizable by the very person whose story we tell? Or perhaps you would argue that it is the story of someone yet to be born.
I think each one of us is the greatest story. It matters that we are here, a living, breathing and being feeling. Even if some of us are throwing this lifetime away, there is a story behind that waste.
Our physical bodies are amazing. We breathe; turn plain air into life with our lungs. Think of skin, for goodness sake, it repairs itself. We rip it and it immediately does to work to repair itself. That is miraculous. Yet, these glorious temples are but a vessel of our “more real selves.”
Our real selves are the parts of us that are a reflection of what is good, beautiful and miraculous. You and me, we are the story. Our lives, how we live them, what we do or do not do, matters; who we love or do not love, matters. It is not the guys in Washington, or the celebrities on TV that matter, they are their own greatest story ever told, not ours.
They are just images somewhere off in the distance. They are not really a part of our story. No, our story is about what we dream and what dreams we weave into reality. It is about getting the love you want and more. That kid of yours that went to school for the first time last week, that is his greatest story. The young man who drove with his dad to college for his first day in a new kind of “first day of school,” that is his greatest story. The toddler who discovers a kitten for the first time and learns to touch it gently and feel its fur, so soft on her face, that is her greatest story.
Day-to-day, minute-to-minute we are living the greatest story ever told. The real issue is: Can we be awake enough to know that this is it? You life, and my life, is the greatest story. What happens is that this story is totally up to us; you see, we are also the writer, the editor and producer. Whether the story ever has an audience that applauds is not as critical as the fact that the story gets told.
Sitting snug at home now, the sun radiates through the crystals and rainbows dance on the carpet. For the first time today I am at peace and I think about the greatest story every told that is mine. I drift and think about what I am going to write on the next page of my story.
