“Bad Decisions Make The Best Stories”
Once upon a time there was a princess… and she lived a perfect life…married the perfect prince… and lived happily ever after…”.
BORING! So boring. Don’t you think so?
The truth is that stories about mistakes in our lives are usually the best. Those bad decisions are the ones that help us grow. Those are the moments that teach us something that we needed to know.
I say mistakes; but in reality there are no mistakes. In my way of thinking, if everything happens for a reason, then it follows that there cannot possibly be a mistake. Logic 101.
Even something as insignificant as the humongous luggage I decided to drag through Europe once, which was definitely a terrible choice, turned out to make a great story. I will take this opportunity to confess, “I bought so much stuff that I returned home with, not one, but two humongous bags!”. It was a crazy trip… or perhaps I was crazy in that trip! Humm…more likely.
I saw a movie once called A Good Year. There is a line in it that I happen to love; it’s when Uncle Henry tells his nephew: “You’ll come to see that a man learns nothing from winning. The act of losing, however, can elicit great wisdom. Not least of which is, uh… how much more enjoyable it is to win. It’s inevitable to lose now and again. The trick is not to make a habit of it.”
So true!
Loss and lessons are the common denominators here. Think about it; which stories do you usually tell others?
I’m willing to bet that you talk about those times when you did something really stupid that usually involved losing something and learning something.
Perhaps it’s about the time you wrecked the car and it cost you, or your father, lots of money. Maybe your story is about lost love? However, maybe it’s about that time when you jumped from an airplane and lost whatever was in your stomach!
Is it about the time you got involved with the wrong person and lost your heart?
How about when you went completely against your instincts and then your life spun in another direction?…and you lost time. Or maybe even your youth.
You may talk about that opportunity lost or about “the one that you let go” and then lost…uff, that one is a killer.
There are many experiences that make funny, amazing, sad, and interesting stories. However, none will be about the times that everything went smoothly.
One thing is for sure; every single story begins with a bad or questionable decision and ends with a lesson learned.
Yes, I think that we come to this life to learn certain lessons. If we don’t learn them in this lifetime, then we will have to do it all over again until we do! Think about that…if I’m right… you would have to do it all over again… humm… best to learn your lesson now!
So perhaps a better story would go something like this:
Once upon a time, there was a princess. This princess was filled with wanderlust but wasn’t allowed to do as she liked… and she felt like a prisoner in a gilded cage. However, she was feisty and liked to defy the rules. One day she decides to escape from the castle and see the world. She hitched hiked her way out, ended up marrying a guy that wasn’t right for her…found herself in another kind of cage… escaped again with lessons learned…created a new life…evolved to become a fearless and wiser person…and then she found the life she always wanted to live…
YES; much better. Right?
