Message Summary: Stories can change our life. We all love a good story. We love hearing them and we love telling them. Each of us is actually creating a story. The story of our lives. But nobody is actually thinking in terms of a story. You’re thinking in term of current events. Every event, every season, we reclassify it into a story. A story we love or a story we hope we never have to tell. The determining factor in whether we want the story to be told hangs on a decision we made while the story was unfolding. We write our story one decision at a time. You have a sales associate that lives in your head that wants you to decide now, fast and focus on the immediate rather than the ultimate.

Don’t fail to recognize the future. Connect the dots between the options you’re considering and the future you prefer. “It would say something about you that you don’t want to say”. Sometimes we make decisions that tell a story we don’t want to tell. Jay used to ask himself: “Will I enjoy it? How badly do I want it? Will it hurt me or somebody else? Is it worth it?”, but moving forward he recommends we all ask ourselves, “what story do I want to tell?” You get to decide. We decide one decision at a time. Every choice you make has an outcome, a consequence or a result. When this is nothing more than a story I tell, what story do I want to tell?

We get distracted by the pressure and emotions of the moment. It’s like a fog that causes us to lose sight of the bigger picture. The immediate rather than the ultimate. Thinking in terms of options instead of story. When you are confronted with anything or anyone with strong emotional appeal, press pause. Not because it’s not the best choice or best response, but because anything with strong emotional appeal clouds our judgement. Be sure you’re making the right decision and telling the story you want to tell with that decision. Never decide anything that makes you a liar for life. Whatever you gain in the moment will not be worth what you’re forced to carry into the moments that follow.

When this season of your life is over, what is the story you’re going to be able to tell? A great example of being aware of the story as it’s unfolding in the moment is Joseph. His brothers sold him and his owner’s wife tried to seduce him but he was always in control of his story and made each decision along the way.