I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW YOUR STORY ENDS

One of the things that can really stir up anxiousness within is the feeling of being stuck, feeling as though you're not going to be able to get out of that place anytime soon.

When we're trying to keep our head above water and balance so many different things at once, and we start to wonder if we're ever going to reach the shore, we will start to ask ourselves this question: “When will this ever end? When will I ever get out of this place? Why can't I get past this?”

We, as human beings, love stories, and we don't just want to know how the story starts, but we also want to know how it ends. There's a reason why, in a movie theater, we stay to the end of the movie. Even though we've paid to be there, we don't typically want to move until the credits start rolling. And this is true even for movies that we may not even like that much. Because the truth is: there's something inside of us that says, “I need to know how this ends. I need to know where the story goes.”

This stirring is what fuels so much of the hopeful imagination that we see in the world. This is in the lining of visions that have changed the world where people wanted to imagine a better future and imagine a better ending to the story. And at the same time, when it comes to our own stories, we forget that we are in the story. We forget that the characters don't know how it's going to end. And we are that character. Every day, we are working in and out of different plot points, and we don't ultimately know how it's all going to come together. It's hard to let go and allow the story to flow because of that stirring that asked the question, “How does this end?”

I cannot tell you how your story ends. I don't know who you will meet, where you will go, and what you will learn on this journey. But I do know that more connections are being made than you are able to see right now. I do know that even though your daily tasks and responsibilities may seem loose and disconnected from one another, and all of the things that you're having to manage—emotionally, spiritually, physically—may seem fragmented and separate from one another. Even then, beyond what you can see, you are a part of a bigger story.

You are a character who cannot see what's on the other end of that character arc. But nonetheless, there is still an arc. There are subplots that fold in and out of other subplots. There are places where a problem begins and places where the problem is solved. There are moments of increased awareness, moments of overcoming, experimenting, consequences, change, and overcoming. And perhaps the hardest part of this is that you don't always know where you are. Even in times of our life where we feel like we have a really good idea of where we are in the story, we can quickly be surprised by an unexpected outcome.

A beginning leads to a quick ending. A moment of committing to try something new suddenly comes with consequences that we could never have imagined. We enter deeper waters, and this can be very discouraging. The shoreline seems further and further away, and once again, we're asking the question, “How does the story end? When does the arc bend towards something good, something sustainable, a place where I can take a deep breath?”

And that's where the grace comes in. We start to realize that we can breathe on the journey. We start to realize that even though we are still at sea, we can lift our heads above the water and we can take that exhale. It's not the same exhale that you take when you arrive at the shore. It's not the same exhale that comes when you've reached the end of the journey. And at the same time, it's a necessary, deep breath that reminds you, the story is not over yet. 

Yes, it's hard to be out here in the middle of a sea that you don't know - where you don't know what's coming next. And at the same time,  there is movement in the water. There's movement in your body. And you're also not alone out here. You're not the only person swimming in the sea. And the people that you're surrounded with? Their subplots are overlapping with yours. Their moments of increased awareness can collide with your moments of increased awareness. And you start to realize: maybe we can work together. Maybe we can continue to move forward through the story, even though none of us know how this is going to end. 

Let's stay in the theater until the credits roll. In fact, let's stay to the end of the credits, because there might be something more there, too. Let's sign up for the whole journey. May we never give up halfway through. We are each holding the tension of a lot of things right now because the story is still being written. We're still in the middle of it all. And what matters is that we continue to remember: we are not in the middle alone. And may we use our words, our art, our actions, our love to continue to remind one another of this on a daily basis. This story is not over. 

More in this week's series called "Creating Room for Discovery", only with a subscription in the Storyteller App.

More tomorrow…
Sincerely,
Morgan Harper Nichols
@thestorytellerco
@morganharpernichols