Relax, You'll Figure It Out

I confess what you all probably already know: I’m curious, a puzzle solver, an engineer, someone who figures things out. I am always looking to understand the connections between things.  Early in my life I accepted a lot of claims without questioning them; then there came a moment when I noticed the mechanism and understood that the claims I had accepted as true were not.

No Story Is a Story

Sometimes I try to force myself to figure things out, resulting in a frustrated struggle.  I felt like a small child focusing on finding a bigger hammer to knock a story square peg into a round hole.  In my struggle to develop a story, I remember hearing someone respond, “That’s an interesting story” to someone else who said, “I don’t accept that whole story thing.”

When I heard that having no story was indeed a story, I started to laugh and at the same time I tried to “figure out” what stories are.  Yes, I was looking for a bigger hammer to force my existing story about stories into a new story I didn’t really understand.   I was trying to force an understanding when understanding just takes time.

Relax, You’ll Figure It Out

This is when I tossed myself the line, “Relax, you’ll figure it out.”  I relaxed and noted it on my check lists, whiteboard, and day planner.  What is a story?  What is my story?

I accepted my challenge and was at peace.  In 2011 and part of 2012 I gave myself space to figure out what a story was and what mine was.  I kept asking questions about others’ interpretations and accepted them as valid, and I continued to let myself figure it out.  I am happy to share that I am still improving, borrowing from others, and creating new stories.

When I see others struggling with something, I toss them the line, “Relax, you’ll figure it out.”  Then I smile and say “Have fun, I am!”

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