It’s Story Time!

It is possible that when you were a child you can remember having story time. Perhaps you have memories of parenting young children and reading them stories before they went to sleep. As adults we may read them in books, watch them in movies or envision them as we hear a song. Stories have, do, and will play an important role in our lives. I am suggesting we take a bit of time to consider them.

When I was a young boy, my maternal grandfather was a storyteller. He was seventy years old when I was born. He was old, wise, and funny. My cousins and I would sit and listen to his stories. I can’t tell you if the stories were true, stories based on a truth, or outright fiction, but we would sit enthralled, listening like they were the most wonderful stories ever told. Sometimes we would hear our grandmother say, “Oh, Hugh.” This could have been an indication that they were not totally true.

I love stories! I am in a profession where people tell me their stories. I love to learn from stories. I enjoy biographies. I enjoy a great drama or a comedy and please do not judge me; I enjoy Hallmark Christmas Movies. Stories can entertain and stories can educate.

I may have trouble remembering a fact, but it is hard to forget a great story.

Here is one of my favorite stories to tell.

When my mom and dad were nearing the end of their lives we lived about 2,500 miles from them. When they came to visit us, it was a big deal. At this stage of life my father had very poor eyesight and my mother had very poor hearing. I was working long hours at the club and came home to a story from Rose about some drama that had happened earlier in the day. What happened I asked. She said “When I got home your mother was crying and when I asked her what was wrong, she said he ate my battery.” Rose explained that she had an image of a car battery in her mind, didn’t understand how her father-in-law could have eaten that and asked her to clarify. In addition to having poor eyesight, he had other health issues that required medication. The person who dispensed his medication was my mother. She had taken her hearing aid out of her ear and for some unknown reason took the battery out if it and put it into my father’s hand. I know you are probably ahead of me on this but, he popped it into his mouth and drank some water to help him swallow it. This is the story of my father eating my mother’s battery. When Rose was trying to make sense of it all, my dad said “Rose, don’t you think I am the one who should be upset about this?” A few days later my friend Lawrence a fellow club manager called to ask, “Is it true that if you eat a battery, you keep going and going and going?” This was a reference to an Energizer Bunny commercial that was popular at the time.

Our lives are a story. Our lives are made up of thousands of stories. Some are good stories; some are boring stories. Some are happy stories, and some are sad stories. Some are true stories and some are stories we have made up. Some are true stories that have been embellished and made even more entertaining. Some are stories that will be told for generations to come. Some shape our culture and our values. Stories can be powerful.

If four people in a family experience the same event there would probably be four separate stories because each person sees the story from their perspective.

For my mother is it was an emotional story of losing a battery that could impact her hearing along with the concern that by putting a battery in my dad’s hand was a mistake and she might have hurt him.

For my father it was a story of a couple of simple mistakes what would all work out. As he put it “this too shall pass.”

For Rose it was a story of emotion and upset that she just wanted to solve.

For me it was a beautiful story of my two beautiful parents who were dealing with the challenges of aging and because there was little or no damage because of it, it could be seen as kind of funny.

As a coach, what I am trying to tell you is that your stories are important. They are all part of the fabric of your life. You can give meaning to the stories of your life. Some people can take a tragedy or an unfortunate story and make it an excuse for their future while others can experience the same thing and receive it as something to reframe or overcome. From each story a lesson can be taken, and the lesson may be more important that the story itself.

What is your story? What are your stories? Who would benefit from hearing them. How might they benefit you, your family or the people you are privileged to influence? How would you benefit from hearing them again with the perspective you have today? What is your favorite story? How can your stories help people receive the lesson you would like to share with them?

Is it time to realize that you are a storyteller?

Is it Story Time?

As a final note I would just like to say, “I love my friend Jim Story!” He is a man full of amazing stories and someone who is always open to hearing mine.