The power of story

I am continually reminded and blessed by the ability of some people to simply share their story. People live incredibly interesting lives and if not given the chance to share those experiences with others they miss out on not only "rediscovering" themselves through the story as Henri Nouwen would say, but the hearers of the story miss out too.

I got the chance to talk with someone today who recounted some pretty horrible experiences and still questions why someone would have to live through such trauma for such a long period of time. I've often wondered too if we are simply supposed to respond to circumstances that come across our path as if we have no control or say in the future but are simply responders to the world around us. After much reflection, I have come to the conclusion that it is our responses that influence the future. We have the choice to react both positively and negatively to things that happen to us that are out of our control. All of us have both positive and negative things that happen to us. That is reality. Some things come our way as consequences of our own actions (both positive and negative) and some things come our way as consequences of others actions (both positive and negative). We have the choice in how we react. We can choose to take something good that comes our way and diminish the goodness by not properly appreciating the gift. Likewise, we can take something bad that comes our way and redeem it by choosing the higher road that brings healing instead of harm; forgiveness instead of revenge; love instead of hate.

I'm thankful everyday I get to meet people that have chosen to take the bad experiences in their life and have refused to be defined by them but instead have integrated those experiences into something redeemed.