"We're all writing a book. What's your book look like?"
Talking to Joe Rogan, Kevin Hart touched on a theme I've heard other creatives press into, particularly author Donald Miller in his book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life. Your life is a story. What do you want your story to be about?
Let me get more specific in hopes of avoiding your descent into depression and regret - "What do you imagine the rest of your story to look like?"
No. Not your story compared to her story, or that families story, or that creatives seemingly unending flow of stories. Your story.
And no, this isn't a call to abandon your responsibilities, your challenges, your hard work, your actual calling in order to run off with your self-imposed story. This is simply an opportunity to pause and reflect on your current reality and the direction you're headed. To take a breath and grab a journal and write the first draft of a five year plan to discuss with your wife when you're both clear-minded. To accept the hope that exists here and now even when the walls are closing in and the bills are stacking up and the hours seem like they're running low.
Today. Right Now. Without running from reality. Taking ownership of your junk. Accepting the premise that the Designer of All Stories has yet to bring your story here in the dirt to completion...
"What do you want to next chapter of your book to look like?"