In college I had the opportunity to be in a few plays. I was able to do some Shakespeare and a few other authors that to be honest, I forget. I enjoyed being able to play a few bigger roles and a few smaller roles.
My favorite for the character sketches was the smaller roles.
Play as Romeo? That character is pretty much defined for you.
Play as Sebastian? That character is laid out for you.
Certainly, there is a difference in character portrayal by each actor but if anyone went off reservation about those characters, people would flip.
The smaller characters? No one cares too much about them. I played a government agent once. He was identified in the script as "Government man #1." That was it.
I called him Jim.
He liked pickles only on his hamburgers. Hot dogs had to have mayonnaise and chili. Jim lived in a small ranch house with a white picket fence. His lawn was kept meticulously and he only used American made products. His closet was organized by color and function. He had two bathrooms in his house but only used one because why would a single man need two bathrooms?
Jim only had the law. It was his mistress, his lover and his greatest source of angst. Relationships had died on the alter of Jim's obsession with the law. At night, he would soothe his pain with 12 year old scotch. Every Sunday Jim put on his only navy blue suit (pinstripes) and went to the seventeen baptist church of his hometown.
How do I know all of this?
Because I wrote Jim's story. I made up his background and decided what my interpretation of his 3 lines totaling 42 words would be.
His story, his character sketch was mine to do with as I wished.
Which brings me to the point of this post.
What is your character sketch for your life?
There's plenty that you don't get to make up like I did for Jim, but the basic question still applies. What story do you want to tell with your life?
This is, perhaps the greatest question of your life. What story are you telling with your life?
The difference between the story you are telling with your life and the story you want to be telling with your life is the degree to which you will find mental happiness, I believe.
Is your story selfish?
Is your story boring?
Is your story selfless?
Is your story exciting?
By and large, you get to decide what you do with your life. You get to decide the story you will tell with your life.
And the beauty of it is that it doesn't matter what happens to you, or who wrongs you.
You still decide the story that your life tells.
Someone wrongs you? That's an opportunity to tell a story of forgiveness. Forced to make a decision about life?
How would you feel if the story was shown on the big screen?
One of the biggest problem areas in relationships that I see is in the area of what story will we tell as a couple? What does it mean for us to tell a love story? I have found the greater the difference between the story each person thought they would be telling and the actual story they are telling is proportionate to the amount of angst and frustration in their relationship story.
So two questions for you:
- What story did you want to tell with your life?
- What story are you telling with your life?
