EVERYBODY HAS HIS OR HER STORY

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Was talking with a good friend on the phone. It's a fine mid-morning to enjoy a nice chat with friends. Although hot I thought to stay awhile before heading back to my room where it's much cooler. Our conversation covered a wide range of random subjects which always amazes me about my friend. It's like driving down the highway with high speed and changing lanes or shifting gears without warning. (You can see many of those plying the Antipolo route.) That, as we know, is a disaster in waiting. But in a conversation there's not much damage done to it except that more often than not some subjects are left hanging in mid-air. But she manages to make me smile lots. Smiles make my day, as you all already know.

And always she makes me think........

This time she tells of several experiences which dotted her week. A good mix of the good, the bad, and the ugly as I gathered from her story. We all know that it's the normal run of things in our lives. We come face to face with the good and in another moment with the bad and then sometimes everything in one big heap. That's how it works... shifting, interchanging, colliding .... all with the intent to perk up what would perhaps be a boring uneventful existence. We must teach ourselves to see it that way or we'd go crazy. Well, maybe or maybe not ... that would all depend on the attitude we bring into it.

Not surprisingly I have been through those same experiences, too. Connecting or reacting to the same events, things, or people. But this I will say, her take-away from her set of experiences were so much different from my own take-away off similar experiences.

A person which I thought was utterly charming, she thought rude. An event which I thought a good learning opportunity, she thought mediocre. An object which I saw as a good piece of craftsmanship, she thought quite useless.

Did those times make me angry or disappointed with her? Not really. I remember now these lines from a book I had read that.... to quote

'Nobody experiences something or someone or someplace the same way. Everybody has his or her story.'  

Thus it's not just the story .....because all life stories are basically the same -- joy, sadness, fear, conflict, struggle, disappointment, betrayal, victory, anguish, anger (and so much more)  ....but what you (or we) put into it is what makes it yours... uniquely different, interesting though maybe unpopular or controversial but still makes for a worthy telling and listening to. Because it is YOUR story.

So the chat went well, to make a long story short. And as predicted she gave me my ration of smiles for the morning. Now back I'm going to my room as the heat is getting intense by the hour here.

Good morning, everyone, and enjoy the blessings of your day. Blessings too comprise the stories that we tell and share. Let's count blessings!