The Book of Life

From a very young age I’ve always thought of my life as like a book.  Events and experiences filled the pages as life goes on, eventually creating chapters, some better than others, some funny or sad, meaningful or boring, but all part of me.  I started reading a lot when I was about 12 so I’m sure that had a lot to do with this mindset.  I was fascinated by the whole process of writing and it almost boggled my mind that a writer could actually put together a coherent story, sometimes spanning hundreds of pages and make it entertaining.  I thought that it would be cool to try that too.  I first put pen to paper to tell an original story when I was about 16.  I haven’t stopped since.  Granted, I’ve procrastinated and went years without writing an original work.  For that I have excuses, but no good reasons. 

Okay, so why is this important and how does it relate to life?  For a while I listlessly meandered though my life, the chapters I was ‘writing’ were boring, uninspiring and sometimes even destructive.  I came to the realization that if I didn’t change things, the rest of my ‘Life Book’ would be akin to a horror story.  Not one of ghoulish monsters and cheap theater scare tactics, but one of failure, waste of potential, minimal effort, and loss.  That horror jolted me into action.  People talk about awakenings and how they see things with new clarity; that’s exactly what it was like for me.  I learned to crave the new, desire experiences to help me grow and evolve as a person.  Writing those ‘chapters’ became inspiring, motivating, cathartic.  By filling those pages of my life with valuable and positive experiences I knew I was living a life worth living. 

Like many people, I hope my Book of Life is a long, awe-inspiring masterpiece that provides me with a margin of immortality.  I don’t have to be ultra-famous (but it would be nice), I don’t have to be ultra-rich (but it would help) but I do want to be the best I can be.  I know that sounds cliché, but if one day, I looked back on my life, and ‘read’ through my book and saw that those pages were left blank, or filled with apathy, despair, and waste, I think that would be the true horror.  At least making the attempt, I know I tried.  If I live up to my own potential, I can be the greatest asset in my own life.  That is true for anyone!