My beautiful mother could cast a narrative of her life that’s very different than the story she actually lives out daily, and has lived for the last 50 years. She could wear righteous anger over betrayal and loss. She could carry that badge and wave it around, ever so subtly, to keep her place as a person who deserves more than she has today. But she has never chosen that narrative, even though the facts are real. Mom chooses gratitude and forgiveness and joy-filled love every day. She chooses to see the blessings.
Our narrative is the lens through which we choose to tell our story. This is a powerful choice, indeed! When we realize that a narrative is constructed by our thoughts, actions, decisions, words.. the whole magilla.. we can step back and ask ourselves how have we constructed our life’s narrative. What story are we always telling?
Mom’s life always tells the story of blessing, and she is outlandishly generous in sharing it. Blessings are there because she chooses to see them, and countless blessings come because they flow through her to others. We all want to be around her because she is a light and a blessing. Mom wouldn’t say this was a “constructed narrative.” But she will always say she is blessed beyond measure – and therefore it is always true. And generations are changed forever because of her choice.
