30 Sep 2016 Your Amazing Story
Among my fondest memories are those late Sunday night drives back to Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, listening to Casey Kasem’s Top 40 Countdown. The music was great, but it was Casey’s back stories of the songs and singers that made the experiences so much richer. It felt like Casey, with his melodic baritone voice, was riding beside me in the car as he told his colorful stories of those early 70’s artists and their music. He had a way of penetrating the mystique of those mighty rock stars of the day, making them seem real and approachable. The music took on new meanings when Casey described how it was inspired, how it fit into the history of the genre, and how it impacted millions of fans as he shared their letters.
Casey’s Countdowns were more about music’s influence on our life stories than it ever was about which songs would be number 1 on the charts. We love stories. Stories are what make life interesting and worth living. Whose ears don’t perk up when someone says, “Let me tell you a story”? Life experiences, when they are retold well, can become just as alive and impactful as they were when originally lived. We learn so much more about each other when we share our life’s stories.
We tend to think of stories in grandiose terms like Moby Dick, The Lord of the Rings, and It’s a Wonderful Life. But, even a simple grocery list provides the elements for stories that develop through the preparation, serving and enjoyment of an inspired meal. In fact, our lives are a vast collection of stories; some we proudly share, some we learn from, and some we try to forget. But all of them, good, bad, and ugly, have shaped and defined who we are.
Wherever we find ourselves in our life stories, we always have a choice: To fade into the background as bit players in a larger story written mostly by others, or to author our own. Will our remaining chapters happen to us, or will we write the role we want to play? To write one’s story into the future, is basically to create a good financial life plan.
Yes financial planning might sound about as dry and exciting as the desert sand of Lawrence of Arabia, but actually, it is no less important than the outline of a classic book or the storyboard of an epic movie. An inspired life plan is the blueprint for living life to the fullest by optimally aligning all of one’s available resources to achieve intended purposes. Don’t let the busyness of grocery lists divert you from creating the storyboard of your best life possible.
Let us help you tell your amazing story.
