Transforming you is the best way to transform the world

​I'm guilty some days of thinking 'I can't wait to become the person I long to become so I can live the life I long to live." I believe that way of thinking looks a lot like being stuck in life. 

I read a book once that Stephen King wrote about writing. King said he doesn't outline the plots of his books before he writes them. He simply throws his characters into a situation and watches (and writes) what becomes of them. 

That then becomes the plot and his latest book. 

We are all waking up in a plot this morning. If you're like me, the plot you're in looks nothing like the plot you imagined you'd be in a decade ago. Or maybe even just a few months ago. 

We have a couple of ways to approach that this morning. We can get focused on the plot. Where did that plot go wrong? How do I get it back on track with the plot I imagined I'd be in? How do I create a plot in my life that looks like a bestseller? 

Or, we can focus on the character. The character that is you and is me. And we can ask, not how we'd like the plot to go in this situation, but how we'd like our character to act in this situation.  

I think some days we get the purpose of life backwards. I sure do. We get to thinking we are here on a journey to transform the plot of this world. Well - I personally believe the ending to that plot has already been written. 

But I do not believe the plot has been completely outlined. I believe what remains to be seen is who we become in that plot on the way to the ending. I don't believe life is about plot transformation as much as it is about us transformation. 

At the end of our stories, I see a question. That question isn't 'what did you make of the world?'

That question is: 'what did you make of you?"

Here's the thing, though. This is important. I think waking up and making the best characters we can make of ourselves within the situations we wake up in today - I do believe that's the best path we all have to filling in that plot outline with a world we can all feel safe and loved in. 

The order seems important. What comes first. Change the world or change me?

I think the right answer is question: 

How do I want my character to act in this situation I've woken up to today?