Think back to when you were a child running and laughing at the park or school playground. Making friends was as easy as pulling up a pant leg, pointing at a scab or fresh scrape, and exclaiming, “LOOK AT THIS!” While most appreciated your injury, some gathered to show their own playground wounds.
As adults, we still compare scars. That’s how we build friendships and strengthen bonds. Sharing both success and failure keeps us relatable and reachable. The more successful we become, the more important relatability and reachability are in terms of how we are seen by those who work with us. Knowing your ‘why’ locks you on course. Why did you move? Why did you study engineering? Why did you resign? All of those things affected the trajectory of your life and inevitably altered the fabric of who you are as an individual.
It all begins with your story. Mitch Albom
says it so brilliantly in his book For One More Day:
“But there's a story behind everything. How a picture got on a wall. How a scar got on your face. Sometimes, the stories are simple, and sometimes, they are hard and heartbreaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story because hers is where yours begins.”
Think of it like this…as we mature and our lives change, so does our ‘why.’ Those events are life’s rip currents where individuals can get trapped. They get pushed and pulled by opposing forces, unsure which direction is best. No matter the person, age, religion, sexual orientation, and education, most obstacles remain the same. That is where your story lives, snuggled between the cracks and dents of perceived perfection. Your story is a road map for others. Yes, you struggled to find your place as the new CFO of a failing company, or maybe you decided it was time to completely change your lifestyle after a scolding from your doctor. But HOW did you turn it around, and HOW did you motivate yourself to keep going when so many others had walked away?
What seems ordinary to you is extraordinary to others. Making that distinction and honoring the moments that made you is critical to helping others who are taking their first tentative steps down the same path. So, start writing! Write about the bad decisions, good decisions, great moments, and horrible moments. Write about love and sorrow. But remember, there’s always value in learning about writing because a good story won’t save bad writing, but good writing can salvage a bad story.
