A story from yesterday can sometimes make you feel like today was then, and tomorrow is miles away.
How do stories from back then make us feel so at ease? Maybe it is the sugar coated reality of our memory, or maybe it is just that back then really was a little slower and little more enjoyable and really is nice to remember.
I love hearing stories about early Florida.
It grabs my attention immediately and doesn’t let go until the last punctuation mark has been read or the last breath of the story has been told.
Maybe it was because my Dad and Pop and Uncles tell such great stories and I just love listening to them. Maybe it is the fact I like hearing about the excitement of people discovering how to do things or settling things for the first time. Those stories just oozed with adventure and mystery and wonder.
We all like stories. Some of us like adventure, some of us like make believe stories, some like stories with action, some mystery and some like real life stories. You may like stories with a little bit of it all thrown in together, why not?
Why do we like stories though? Maybe because some stories are complete, some are incomplete, some are encouraging and others are disturbing, yet there is something about a story that gets us to react one way or another. HMMM?
We are either drawn to a story or we run from it? We may listen for a little while and then become dissatisfied with a story. We might re-write the story so we like it a little better. Nevertheless we can’t help but somehow be involved in a story.
I’ve been accused of being a story teller before. Sometimes people mean to call me a liar other times they just mean they like the way I tell stories. My nephews and nieces and my son and daughter love to hear me make up stories, or at least they used to until they got too big for that. No my stories are just embarrassing and too silly so I have to grow in my story telling abilities.
I wish I would have taken video, recorded audio or written or typed down all the great stories I have ever heard. If you are ever around family and they start telling great stories don’t hesitate to record it somehow, you will be glad you did. My family has some of the greatest Sunday afternoon meals in 10 counties and the conversations are just as priceless. I could kick myself for not recording or preserving more of these stories. (Only I’d throw my back out trying to kick myself.)
Take some time today to write down that story that means so much to you or your family and share it with someone else. You might be surprised at how good it makes them feel. With all of our social networking sites we think we can only share a small tidbit with people, we convince ourselves we don’t have time to sit face to face and tell others our story. How sad that reality is today.
So call up that old friend or sit down at the restaurant and make a new one by asking them if they have ever heard the story about….
Who knows they may stop you and ask if they can write it down, and tell everyone they know.
If you don’t tell your story no one will ever hear it, they won’t be able to re tell it, experience it or even believe it. Take time today and tell a story or maybe even listen to one, it just might change your day.
