‘Write the vision and make it plain.’
Habakkuk 2:2, Holy Bible KJV
Think of your life as a book, with different phases split into chapters. Right now you’re stuck on the last page of the current chapter. You’ve been reading it over and over for a long time, trying to turn the page but you’re unable to, not because the current chapter is exciting or a page-turner, but because you are lost. You want to start a new chapter but you don’t know what this next chapter is about so you keep re-reading the one you’re currently in. You don’t like the way the story is unfolding but you feel stuck, you’re lost, powerless, so you go over and over the pages of this current chapter.
Do you know that if you don’t like your story you can change it? You cannot change the past but you have within you, the power to choose where you’re going. Sometimes we think we’re too late, we’ve missed our chance and that we are at the mercy of whatever life throws at us. And we prepare ourselves for the worst because we don’t dare to dream. We stopped dreaming a long time ago. It’s not too late, it’s never too late. You’re not late, you’re right on time, right where you need to be.
Here’s the greatest thing about life – you don’t have to know where this next chapter is going. You just have to start dreaming it and when you do, write it out. They say that the best dreams happen while we’re awake.
How do you start?
Imagine you are given a beautiful pen. It fits perfectly in your fingers and writes smoothly. You’re told that beauty is not the only attribute of this fine pen. It is a magic pen, custom-made for you and whatever you write with this pen becomes real. Because of its magical powers it has only one purpose; to be used to write the story of your life from today onwards. Your job is to think about your life and take the story from here, creating the next chapter as you would like it to be.
Get the most beautiful journal you have and with the magical pen, start writing the next chapter of your life, knowing that whatever you write will be lived out in reality. What would you write? What do you see for yourself? How would the story unfold from here?
What belongs on the pages of your journal are not what your head tells you is possible for you to have. Remember that the head sees the past and the present, and the heart sees the possibilities. What belongs on the pages of this beautiful journal are the dreams you have in your heart. Don’t try and figure out how these things will happen. Remember that the pen is magical, created to make the dreams you write with it come true. All you need to do is write.
So, think of your life and the dreams you have. Think about the things you thought were impossible. Start telling yourself ‘maybe’, just ‘maybe’, instead of telling yourself. ‘No’. Don’t limit yourself or your dreams. You’re allowed to dream big. When you think you’ve gone too far, keep going.
Go on, start writing. Remember that the pen is magical. Whatever you write with it, as long as it is a dream about YOUR life, it will come true. Your job is not to wonder how this will happen. Your job is to give the pen your command by writing. So, go on, start writing, have a go. Take your story from here, it’s yours.
Knowing that you are the author of the story that runs your life, how would you write your story? What story would you write?
Would you write about your failures, past mistakes and pains?
Would you keep nailing yourself down in chains?
Would you say, ‘I stumbled, I fell, beaten and broken
Confused, lost, weary and shaken
I felt I was worthless, laden with defects
Until a voice said, “Your imperfections make you perfect
You are unique with your scars and your bruises
For without them you couldn’t fulfill your uses
Your voice, your strength, your past are your powers
That give you wings to share your story of conquer”
A student of life, I wore the crown with glory
Now with my pen, I get to write my own story’.
Ene Obi
Be the author of your story and the hero of your life. You’ve only got one.