Why Change is Important

I know I’ve promised to post about writing on Wednesdays, and life on Fridays. Don’t worry. Even though this post is going to start out with discussion about writing, it really is about life.

When I was first learning the important elements of writing a good story, I learned an important lesson. The story starts on the day when things change. This is when the main character (who we may, or may not already know for a few pages) has his or her world turned upside down.

Unfortunately, the reason this is such an important element of story is because this is the thing that gives us a harsh place from which the character can rise and grow.

This is also the case in real life. Change is inevitable. There is nothing we can do to avoid or stop it. Children grow up, relationships change, economic circumstances create difficulty or abundance, people get sick.

Some changes are welcome and exciting. Others are devastating. But all change helps us grow into the people we are, or who we need to become.

A lot of people I know are right now experiencing some serious changes in their lives. Hard changes. Exciting changes. Devastating changes. And I’m not going to tell them that everything will be okay. Maybe it won’t. Maybe things will be hard for a long time. Or maybe it will be okay and they’ll come out ahead or on the very top. But regardless of what each change means to each person, I hope they will remember one very important detail.

This is where your story begins. And all stories, regardless of if the ending is happy or tragic, end with one thing in common. Hope.

What recent changes in your life give you cause to hope?

Running for Tragedy

In case you’re wondering how I did on Saturday, not only did I survive, but I was NOT the last person to cross the finish line. In fact, as predicted, I ended somewhere in the middle. More importantly, I finished. I set out to try a new thing, to do it for a good cause, and I did it.

And look, I didn’t even keel over afterward! Though I did get sprayed by a fire hose.(Yeah, I'm the short one.)

But sore muscles and wet clothes were not my only takeaway. Before the run, the parents of the little boy in whose memory Cooper's Run was created, stood to talk to the crowd, explaining how the raised money would go to help special needs children, and how their son would have been amazed and impressed at all the people who showed up to run that morning.

Those parents took their heart-wrenching tragedy and turned it into a blessing which has touched the lives of many, many others. By all rights, they could have crawled into deep depression and spent the last two years wallowing in grief. Instead, they’ve found therapy in service—and have magnified that service into a huge event which has rallied an entire community to also support and serve.

I think there’s a lesson in that. If ever I’m tempted to feel sorry for myself, I’d do well to remember Cooper’s family and their example. And if nothing else, go for a good long run instead.

Oh the Tragedy!

Sadly, I don’t go to movies all that often. Not that I don’t love them—I do. But I’m a busy mom, who has lots of schedules to keep up with, and it’s difficult to get out and see the newest films that interest me while they’re still in theaters. (Oh, the beauty of DVD’s.)

When I do go to movies, I hope they’re done well enough to take me out of my own life for the moment and hopefully make me laugh and/or leave me with a warm sensation in my chest left from the experience of numerous emotions. Suspense is good, and action, too.

But I have certain expectations. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s walking out of a theater completely disappointed in the outcome of a show. It happens from time to time.

Consider the movie The Perfect Storm. (Spoiler alert!) Everyone dies! And I’m sorry, but that show felt like a huge waste of time for me. Because how could it possibly be based on a true story when no one survived to tell about it?

Maybe I just hate tragedies. No, because I love the story of Romeo and Juliet—sad as it is. Seems like there was a lesson in that though. And also, Shakespeare wrote that like, a gazillion years ago, and he was pretty well brilliant, so he’s kind of excused. A little.

So, here’s a question. What movie’s have you seen that had a tragic ending you felt was excusable, and which ones just left you feeling angry? I’m curious.