How to Write the Greatest Story You'll Ever Tell

 

Some of the greatest story tellers I've ever met are in prison. If all the stories I've heard are to be believed, I've met crime bosses, hit men, real gangsters, multi-millionaires, and hundreds of incarcerated innocent men.  Now, to be fair, there is a small chance that some of the stories I've heard are true. Undoubtedly, prison holds some truly innocent men, and others who, while guilty of a crime, were nevertheless railroaded by a vigilante prosecutor who overcharged the offender and fabricated evidence to make a case. I know I've met hit men, serial killers, and true crime bosses. But these are the stories you hear from others, not from the ones who lived it. Those men have no need to recount their stories -- they have nothing to prove.  What strikes me as ironic is that with so many men who can tell a good story, why are there so few who can write a new chapter in their own lives? Why are there so many inventive story tellers, yet so few intentional authors?  We all write the story of our own lives, and perhaps because some men feel their stories are dull and uninteresting, they fabricate and embellish their pasts. But the most compelling stories are not fictional accounts of one's criminal exploits. They are the stories lives out by those who reformed from a life of crime and wrote a new chapter, a new ending, in the story of their lives. The most compelling stories are those that begin as a tragic drama but that end with a spark of hope, igniting a flame of compassion in those who believe in redemption.  The story of Chuck Colson's life took a tragic turn when he was sent to prison in disgrace for his role in Watergate, one of this country's most famous political scandals. But rather than sit around recounting stories of his influence on the most powerful man in the world, Colson decided to change the narrative of his life. He used his worst mistakes as a catalyst to build one of the largest prisoner advocacy and prison reform organizations and ministries in the United States and around the world: Prison Fellowship.  Chuck Colson wrote a new chapter in the story of his life that ended up impacting millions of people in a positive way. We may not all be able to reach the level of influence and impact that Colson did, but stories are not written a chapter at a time. They are written one word at a time.  Every day presents a new opportunity to change the narrative of our lives, and that takes looking forward with purpose, not behind us in nostalgia.