Maybe It's About the Story

Last night, I changed my cover photo on Facebook like I do every week or so. I'm not sure what made me start changing the image so often ... I remember having one certain photo as my Facebook cover for like a year or longer. As those of you who are friends with me on Facebook well know, sometimes the images I choose are somewhat unique ... like the orangutan photos for example (the story behind those pics deserves a post all its own, by the way). Sometimes the images I choose are of my kids or my granddaughter, and there's only one word that defines those photos ... love. Sometimes I use photos of majestic mountains or fiery sunsets or crashing waves ... those images remind me that the world is so much bigger than the tiny part I live in each day. But sometimes ... sometimes I run across an image that reaches out, grabs my soul and screams, "This one is for you, Terrie." 

The image I chose for my Facebook cover photo last night was one of those ... one of those that grabbed me the moment I saw it. In the background is a blurry image of an open book, and in the foreground are the words, "Maybe it's not about the happy ending. Maybe it's about the story." Powerfully intense words for someone like me who is so often driven by the desire to finish ... to be done ... to arrive ... to find the happy ending. Powerfully intense words for someone like me who worries so much about being done that I fail to appreciate how important the journey to that "doneness" truly is. I haven't been able to shake those words from my mind today ... "Maybe it's not about the happy ending. Maybe it's about the story."

If that's true ... if it really is about the story, then what is the story? The story is life ... the story is living ... the story is life and everything that comes with it. The story is the good and the bad and everything in between. There are times when the story is beautiful. There are times when the story is messy. The story is life. The story is honest. The story is deep. The story is family. The story is growing. The story is tears. The story is acceptance. The story is laughter. The story is real. The story is sharing. The story is glorious. The story is helping. The story is painful. The story is friendship. The story is love. The story is life, friends ... the story is life. The story is getting up every morning ... breathing ... living ... the story is life. 

"Maybe it's not about the happy ending. Maybe it's about the story."

Maybe it is about the story ... maybe it is indeed.