To leave your comfort zone - go to a new time zone

 “And once you live a good story, you get a taste for a kind of meaning in life, and you can't go back to being normal; you can't go back to meaningless scenes stitched together by the forgettable thread of wasted time.” ― Donald Miller

TinTin is a great example of a character who lives a good story. TinTin's willingness to follow a lead toward an adventure is admirable. He is a reporter whose livelihood is based on having good leads but he's also the kind of character that actually follows them. Staying in his comfort zone doesn't trump his sense of adventure. His stories take him around the world and back, usually doing something of historic proportions. 

 

I was 17 when I left the United States to travel Europe as a "Student Ambassador" with People2People. Something profound happened when I had to navigate another culture and country with their different language, food and customs. I gained a much larger view of humanity and our similarities and a greater appreciation for all our differences. It forever changed the way I looked at the world and influenced the path of my own life.

 Since high school I've had the opportunity to slide down deep into a salt mine in Austria, eat homemade pasta in Italy and sleep in a 12th century palace. I found my way through Vienna's ring roads and navigated train stops on a quiet Sunday afternoon in Cortona. I took risks in asking for directions in South Korea where everyone looked different from me or engaging with college students in a large Russian city.

For me travel has been one of the ways I've stretched out of my comfort zone and it has increased my appreciation of God as creator, the interconnectedness of humanity and my own self-efficacy.

A good story the way we see it in literature isn't every single day of a person's life. We hone in on the events and characters that move the plot forward. For me, travel has been some of those events. One of the vivid memories I have from my study abroad in Austria is sitting alone on a bench in the neighborhood where I was living. The bench was off the street, secluded and overlooked a babbling brook. It was bright afternoon and I didn't need to be anywhere for a few hours. I sat there so absolutely contented that I still reflect on that time as a blessing and reminder of the importance of being present and having stillness in my days. That moment is part of my story because it's one of God's ways of beckoning me back to His presence - in the stillness and quiet of His plan and His strength that is never spiraling out of control. So to this point, I've lived a pretty good story with several factors that have moved the plot along including - growing up with sisters, moving away to college, being baptized, working in full time ministry, traveling around the world, being dumped and only being competent in individual sports (nothing with hand-eye coordination). Each of these could be scenes in the story that I've lived to this point. It just feels far from over. So when asked if I'm living a good story - Yes. Only it's not a best seller...yet. 

"We live in a world where bad stories are told. Stories that teach us life doesn’t mean anything, that humanity has no great purpose. It’s a good calling, then, to speak a better story. How brightly a better story shines. How easily the world looks to it in wonder.” Donald Miller

Today I am answering the question, “What does it mean to live a good story?” along with other writers at Prodigal Magazine. I believe the answers are as broad as the stories that show us. Why don’t you share yours too?

Fishing as a metaphor

I don't know anything about fishing from first hand experience. Anything I know comes from movies. Even people I know who have told me about fishing fail to say it in a way that has compelled me to participate or with enough illustration for me to grasp it. Recently though I saw Salmon Fishing in Yemen and was delighted. I'm adding fishing to my life list as of today.
So here's 1 part movie-review and 1 part metaphor-for-life.

Linda while camping

Ewan McGregor plays a fish expert with a boring marriage who gets suckered into an unlikely project. A rich sheik asks him to have faith and work with him on creating salmon fishing recreation in Yemen, a mostly desert place. Emily Blunt gets to manage the project as a consultant who doesn't know anything about salmon. It's a beautiful and funny tale and I found myself smiling the whole time. I went to see it by myself at Aperture, our local indie theater. I thoroughly enjoyed the shared experience. Here are my take-aways:

1. Salmon swim upstream and its in their nature to do this. So while it's "normal" for them, it's not normal for other fish. They swim against the current when it's time for them to leave their mark and procreate. They are highly adaptable and go in both sea and river water. It seems the life of a salmon is quite the adventure with multiple names throughout their life span. I learned that here. Upon learning that and having the story from Yemen running through my mind, I felt even better about going to the movie alone. I didn't go to movies alone until just a couple years ago after a friend told me how much she enjoyed it. It's super liberating to go alone because it's a cultural expectation that there would be others with you.
2. Ewan's character Fred has a moment where he wants to "go upstream" to change the course of his life. To do the harder thing for the potential added value it could bring. He takes a risk. Salmon do that all the time. Ever seen those pictures of Alaskan bears eating sockeye? Those fish are bold instinctively and are great role models for us. 
3. Like any good story, there is romance in this one. I love how they integrate it into the plot. Without giving anything away, I just want to point out how attractive it is when someone swims upstream, against the norms. We are drawn to people who think independently and are driven by a passion to live for something more. The sheik is such an appealing character for his confident faith - it draws people in.
4. The movie reminded me how sweet it is to have hope in something, faith that something can be realized even when the odds are against it. I have unmet desires and unrealized dreams, as do we all and this movie is a sweet reminder that the faith in those dreams spurs people on to do extraordinary things. In the words of Donald Miller - live a good story!  The hope in this story was in the salmon and the sheik, but we should all pause to think what we put our faith in and examine our actions to see if they line up.

Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in that grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat. - Teddy Roosevelt 

Spring - hope floating up

Beginnings are scary, endings are usually sad but it's the middle that counts most.
 ~ Hope Floats (1998)

Spring is full of endings and beginnings and I feel like I'm surrounded by them. May is one of the fastest moving months in the year, every year. No matter what season of life I've been in, May has been busy.

In the last few weeks I've celebrated alongside people who were graduating both high school and college, getting engaged, announcing pregnancy, and having babies. Last year at this time I was celebrating my dad's retirement and I know many people who have anniversaries in May. This is also the time when many people in their 20s assess where they will live the following year. Those who just graduated from UNCG are in the middle of that transition right now. I've seen quite a few of them in my office. Those in high school are anxiously awaiting summer break and the freedom of school being out.

Despite the festive nature of spring time, I've also been on the side that is
being left
             left out
                       neglected
while everyone else is celebrating. It can feel isolating to be the one not moving on. I'll be honest, when every weekend is booked with a baby shower, wedding or graduation party I can get in my head about playing the supporting role in my own life. God and I have rather intense dialogues regarding timing and waiting (topics that any type-A personality has trouble with) in the spring.

When will it be my turn for this or that? 

Why hasn't A or B happened for me? 

Did you forget? 

Do I matter? 

*I realize how self-focused these questions are and the funny thing is - the joy I have for all the people in my life who are celebrate doesn't diminish because I feel left out. The two feelings can co-exist which is weird.*

I call this train of thought the "shadow side" of all the good events mentioned previously. And I can't help but be reminded of Jonah (thanks God for the gentle nudge toward your Word). God brought Jonah through a lot, most famously in and out of a big fish :) but at the end of the book of Jonah God has a final illustration to teach about God's nature. He sends a tree to provide shade one day and the next - the tree dies. Jonah basks in the shade one minute and is wishing he'd die the next when he's suffering in the hot sun. God blesses and takes away. His glory is the bottom line.

We can wrestle like Jacob with the seemingly unfair life circumstances we're dealt. He can withstand our frustrations. He's also got a WAY bigger perspective on our situations than we do. And self-pity does nothing but delay God's work. I pray to learn from Jonah's stubbornness at learning God's ways. I pray I could be more pliable and willing to be molded into a willing vessel. And for all those going through joyful or isolating circumstances, I pray you would grow in gratefulness and acceptance of God's good work in our world.