#33 The Stories That Make Us
It is a rare day when I can get another person in the office with me, today I was blessed with half the team. I’m always invigorated by…
This is post #33 of my #365 day series.
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It is a rare day when I can get another person in the office with me, today I was blessed with half the team. I’m always invigorated by working with our team in the same room. I think half of it is because I can get a better read on how folks are reacting to the discussion. The other half is just hearing people’s stories. One of our newest arrivals is our General Counsel, Sean Greaney. I’ve written about how we met before, but I didn’t get into his ability to tell stories about the most inane topics and still hook you.
Call Of Duty Helped Me Hire A Lawyer
It was early 2020, we’d just recently opened the doors for the Santa Monica office of the law firm I was working at…
tony-thai.medium.com
Sean chatting about his war stories got me thinking and talking about my own experiences. Just vocalizing the past started to trigger memories for me that I kept locked away, deep inside the vault. It made me remember the pain and the craziness of the past, but with a different perspective. It kind of feels more like watching a TV show than recalling memories. Some of the situations I’ve gone through, and based on his stories, what Sean has gone through, seem stranger than fiction. But we know they happened, we experienced them! It’s vivid and if I dig deep enough and I can unearth emotions that I forgot I had (namely anxiety).
When you think back (for those of you old enough), do you ever just think about how ridiculous it is that you’re still around? Have you done something stupid which has endangered you physically (or emotionally) that you wonder, “Man, a few inches to the right and I would’ve completely ate it.” If the answer to all of those self reflective questions is “Nope,” well, then I feel bad for you. So much of what makes life interesting are those near misses and failures. Wins are great too, but it’s the losses that get us there. You never hear people say “yeah, that win really made me into something better.” It’s when you lose or you almost lose that you learn something. And even grander than the near misses and stories of epic failures, it’s the stories we can tell others that make us into who we are today. If that’s not the case, then why even exist? To go about your day, waking, eating, sleeping? Seems boring and pointless.
Most people go about their lives as if they are the main character, the protagonist in the story. I wonder, however, how many of those people think about who writes the story that they live. I argue, that you are the writer and the actor in your story. Live an amazing life, so you can tell amazing stories. Whether it’s “I scaled Mt. Kilimanjaro” or “I grew up and had 3 amazing kids that are awesome,” figure out your story and tell it. Otherwise someone will write it for you, and don’t forget, they are their own protagonist.