Write a story of transformation into your life

I talk to a lot of people who are unhappy or unsatisfied or unfulfilled with their lives. Lots of 'uns.' They have different reasons. But I find a common denominator is a lot of people want to transform their lives without living stories that require them to transform.

I remember signing up for my first ultramarathon. A radical decision at the time. Looking back, without knowing it, I was committing to a story of transformation that was impossible to write if I didn't actually live out transformation.

I failed to finish that first ultramarathon. But I continued living out a story of transformation until I finally did. And when I did - over two years later - a completely different person crossed the finish line of that race than the person who'd signed up for it.

I signed up for a story of transformation; I transformed.

That experience helped me begin to recognize some things. The biggest - I guess - was just how long I'd been living a life longing for transformation, while continuing to write and live out stories of comfort and familiarity.

I'm not alone there. Many of us like our comfort and familiarity. I get that, but if you are someone longing for transformation, comfort and familiarity are your enemies.

Comfort and familiarity are always whispering to us, "where you are is good enough. It's easy. Where you want to go will be hard; really hard."

I've come to believe those words might be the greatest predictor of transformation; "it's going to be really hard."

I've come to believe those words might be our greatest invitation and not our biggest threat; 'it's going to be really hard." Because no tranformation ever came on the heels of 'well, that was easy.'

If you think about it, we are all different people than we were ten years ago. That's the nature of life. We are creatures that evolve and change.

The question then becomes, am I IN the story or am I WRITING the story? Am I going with the flow of the life I know - a tourist waiting to see where the tour guide of life leads me - or am I signing up for an ultra?

Am I waiting to get to the end of life to see what life made of me, or am I writing stories along the way about all that I insist on making of life?

Floating along the stream of life can be nice. It's smooth and relaxing. Ah, the peace of it all.....

But maybe try writing a few class five rapids into your stream. Sure, it can be risky. Dangerous. It can even leave you wondering some days if you are going to make it out alive.

The thing is - if you do make it out alive - you might find yourself feeling more alive than ever.

You might find yourself feeling transformed.