What’s in the Story of the Obstacle Course?
Sometimes we do everything we can to avoid obstacles in life while other times, we sign up for them. Our family found ourselves choosing the latter on our Colorado adventure last week. We had already done lots of hiking and other activities in the area we were staying, so we were looking for a new challenge before we moved on to our next stop on the trip.
It’s really fun to be able to say I did what I did on that rope’s course, but if I’m honest, there were moments when each of us did not have fun. Cargo nets have a way of sucking the strength and confidence out of a person. It was also really high on that second level and the new angle we were looking at the safety of the ground left each of us shaking a little more than the ropes were making us.
I find myself doing similar things in my own life most of the time. I like a good challenge – when it’s done. I love the thrill of knowing I set a personal record or accomplished a goal. I also feel REALLY awkward in the process of completing it. I feel like I’m currently in one of those awkward places. I’ve set several goals for myself as a person, a writer, a teacher, a friend, a mom, a wife, and the list keeps going. I feel like I’m juggling 16 different sections of obstacle course all at once, and none of them are leaving me looking pretty at the moment. It’s okay, though, because it’s part of the work of accomplishing.
The course is all laid out, and I can only complete one section at a time. The most important thing is that I don’t lose sight of the beauty of this chapter of my story. I can get really wrapped up in how I am incorporating all of the characters in my story, or my task list to keep the plot moving along, but I must never lose sight of the purpose of my story: why I’m here, why I embrace obstacle courses, how my story can help others work through owning their stories. .As much as I respect the writing process, I acknowledge that it will always be messy. Every story has its wobbly parts as it’s being written, but persevering through to the end leaves unmatched satisfaction, not to mention hope to keep on writing the beautiful stories we were all meant to share with the world.