The Solution
Every problem needs a solution. There is not a single person that I know that likes to be stuck in a problematic situation. The instant that it arises we begin to look for hope. That is, we look for something that can give us confidence that the problem can come to an end. We need that hope. Every situation that has ever existed has this same chronological order of events. Normalcy-a problem pops up-a remedy is sought (something to place hope in) - a time of faith (living confidently that our hope will provide the solution to the problem) then three things can happen. The first is that our hope does solve our problem and everything turns out the way that we desired. The second is that it does not solve the problem and we go back to the drawing board and look for a new hope. Upon finding it we place our faith in it. The third scenario is that our hope fails and we simply give up, in essence, we become hopeless.
In looking at my life I have a problem. My problem is that there is a wall that surrounds me and keeps me from going where I want to. If you were wearing special glasses you would see that a cage holds me captive. I am being held back from the life of fulfillment that I have planned and desperately desire. I guess I need to take a step back and introduce you to that plan. I call it Operation Fulfillment.
Operation Fulfillment is somewhat of a Benjamin Button look at my life. A while ago, I read one of the most thought provoking books of my life. “Million Miles in a Thousand Years” is authored by one of my favorites, Donald Miller. There is something electric about the words that he presented in this book that sent shockwaves into my thought life. This book really caused me to take a step back and look deeply at my life. I would like to preface the rest of this by saying that I am very humbled by what has taken place in my life. I have not done anything earth shattering but I have been able to experience things that I never dreamed were even possible.
Twelve years ago I was a lonely, lost fellow with really no hope of doing anything that mattered in this life. I was scared of everything. I had no one to turn to and really had no clue what life was all about. To say the least, something insane happened that opened the floodgates to a life I could not have imagined. (This is not about what happened then, let’s just say that Him being real changed my world!) Since then I have seen places, done things, and touched lives I never imagined was possible.
In spite of these experiences I still felt that my life was lacking and that as far as direction went, I was still guessing at which way to go. Instead of having a plan, I was just improvising and trying to live the most fulfilling life that I could and quite honestly, failing. After reading Mr. Miller’s latest book there was a major shift in thought in my mind. I had this idea to take a look at my life in reverse. I sat in my favorite chair and looked at life through the lens of me at seventy years old. I hypothesized about what would give me the satisfaction of a fulfilled life when I am that age. I came up with four premises that would take my story to the level of Cinderella Man. God, my wife, my children and community.
The first premise is also the one that must flow into the other ones or else my story will never get off the ground and I will always be reaching, grasping and coming up short. This river for this life is actually, that. I must remain planted by the river of life. My roots must be firmly dug into and growing deeper in the banks of God’s love for me. If not then I will shrivel up and die. This is what started this story within a story to begin with and that has to remain intact and constant.
The second premise is one that may have come from another of Miller’s books. This is the reality that my story and my wife’s story will be intertwined with each other. That is, I am completely responsible for making it as magical as I can. I love this! I want more than anything, my wife to look back when she is seventy and say, “Wow! I am loved! I lived the dream as a bride!” I want her to have few regrets and lots of dreams discovered including the ones that she is yet to have. I understand that I play a undeniably huge role in making this a reality.
The third is that I want my three children to be planted in my love for them and be able to thrive there. I want them to have memories that can instantly transport them to a place that they can gain security from. I want them to know how to navigate themselves in this world with success and humility wrapped into a neat little package. I want them to know that the greatest pleasures of this life do not need a bank account. I want to them to always see me as their Daddy, just as God wants me to do the same to Him. I want to give them the best start for their story that I can.
The final premise of Operation Fulfillment is that I want to influence everyone that I encounter to go after their life of fulfillment. I want to help the prospects of a wasted life. Every life matters. I want to influence those who do not see their story. Twelve years ago I did not see a story. I wanted a story but I was not an author. I have the vision I once did not and I want to spread it into the lives of those I encounter that are lacking it. I want to bring hope to the hopeless.
When I looked back at my life as a seventy year old, this is what I saw would provide the satisfaction that I long for now. I have the vision and the way. But now I have a problem. I do not have the keys to the cage. I need a bulldozer for the wall. But I may have found the hope. That is, the thing that could activate this plan and really give it some legs to walk with. Mr. Miller is having a conference regarding our life as a story. Gathering there is a community of people that desire a life of fulfillment or to live out the best story possible. I have not encountered many people that share this vision. A fulfilled life is different than being happy today. That feeling of a fulfilled life to me is the highest way of living a man or woman can attain. There is a rest and peace there that I do not think that I could find any other place. That life starts now, a fulfilled minute will turn into an hour, an hour into a day, a day into a week, a week, into a month, a month into a year, and year into a lifetime. It starts now, but I feel stuck. I really believed that being immersed into a community of likeminded people for a few days could be the spark that I am searching for to start this fire. I do not want to live in that community, I want to be able to create that community in places that surround me. To be picked to win this would be another dream in this life I did not think was possible, but I now know that it is. The premise is there, the execution has begun. What I need is the solution to my problem, my hope is this conference. My faith is that this blog will win the all expense paid trip to it. I believe you hold the keys, will you unlock the cage?
Living a Better Story Seminar from All Things Converge Podcast on Vimeo.
