My friend Elora Ramirez wrote a very touching and moving blog post that I want to make you aware of.
- Everyone has a story
In her post titled A Life Well Lived she shares the story of a professor that challenged her to make an inventory of things she knows based on her experiences and knowledge. Her professor gave an example of the kinds of things to put on the list: Slept on the grass in Central Park…Ate a steak in Chicago…sat in typing class and listened to the announcement that Kennedy had been shot. After reading the post and Elora’s list (click here to see it) I was extremely moved and decided that it would be a great experiment if we all put some thought into sharing our stories via such a list. So, below are some things I’m putting out there--A life well lived…my version:
- As a teenager I made a wish on a falling star, but to this day can’t remember what I wished for
- Fell in love with my wife way before she loved me back
- My best friend ever was a dog that my dad named Topper
- Watching the vet put Topper down after he was suffering from hip displasia was the first time I realized that everything must die eventually
- I’ve never sensed freedom of expression more than when I used to go dancing in the clubs as a college student
- Used to climb up on the roof of my parent’s garage and just stare at the sky and wonder
- I am only patient when I create
- Never realized how much I loved my mom until she passed away May 28, 2008
- Realized dining was more about the experience than the food when I was eating at a restaurant along the water in Vancouver, British Columbia
- Found out at an early age that having sex with someone isn’t necessarily an act of love
- Lost a close friend in his mid-30′s to a heart attack and haven’t thought of life the same ever since
- Had my first buffalo burger with a business client in West Yellowstone, Montana and felt sad for the buffalo
- All it took to make me happy when I was in elementary school was sitting down to a Snoopy holiday special on tv with a slice of combination pizza (even though it was black-and-white tv)
- I felt invincible at age 16 and drove like it
- God spoke to me and I responded for the very first time in a hotel room in Carbondale, Colorado in October 2004. I’ve been wrecked (in a good way) ever since
- The things I dislike most in my daughters are those traits that remind me of myself
- I feel accomplished looking into an aquarium of fish and plants I’ve had going for several year (which I had to start all over with again after our last move)
- Sometimes I feel as if God’s plan B would have been to make me a house cat
- Stopped living life for myself at age 37
- Drag raced my friend Eric during my senior of high school. He beat me with a VW diesel pickup and it was very embarrassing to my manhood
- Went to seminary and met people there I will remember for the rest of my life
- I owned my first condominium at age 22
- Became the vice president of operations for a corporation at age 32, without a college degree
- In middle school, I used to record songs from record albums into a cassette recorder and then pretend I was a dj, but I never played any of them back
- Was married and divorced as an atheist, now married forever to Charlotte as a child of God
- Read The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard and The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch and realized I was not called to do traditional ministry
- Lived through the 80′s and am thankful for the experience
- Started using my first Apple Computer in 2004 and it changed my life
- Dropped a public speaking class in college when I realized that I was going to have a give a speech in the second week…I would rather die than speak in public, so why did I sign up for the class?
- Sat in the bathtub and spoke my first words to Jesus at age 38
- Met some great new friends at The Idea Camp in February that have influenced me positively
Now, you have been officially challenged by Elora to come up with your own list:
There are stories to be told. People aching to be heard and seen. Go ahead. I dare you. Think about your own list. Declare yourself, as Brady Peterson says. Someone will listen.
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