Story

Messing up has not be the end of my story.  It could have been.  If that was what I wanted.  My choice.
I heard of someone who was given a birthday present of a book entitled, “the greatest story ever told.”  It was given to him by his wife.  He loved to read.  He thought “you beaudy.  This should be good.”  He opened it and every page was blank.  He asked his wife about it and she said, “that is for you to write.  It is your story.”
I really think it is the same for me.  I write my story.  Some chapters end well and some end badly.  Some chapters contain events hard to understand.  Some chapters are bridges from one experience to the next.
I can choose to end it on a downer.  Unresolved.  Left with a feeling of what could have been.  Unfulfilled potential.
But the book I am writing that is my life I do not want to end with heaps of pages left containing one word only, “ditto.”  It is too easy to throw up my hands when things get hard and say, “that’s it.  End of story.”  It is all too possible to declare an end prematurely.
For me what makes many stories interesting is how the character gets out of the situation they find themselves in.  The stories I like are the ones where the character does have a win against the odds.  I am left disquieted when a story ends in defeat - defeat of the outward and inner man.  For me the outward person perishing but the inner person triumphing is a win. 
Wins are wins and always good, but when a goal is not achieved, I am left with a feeling of loss.  I know if my team scores 22, all the tries and conversions are wins.  But if the other team was 30 it was still a loss.  The goal is to be in front when the final siren sounds.
My story has chapters ending with wins and losses.  But it is not finished yet.  I am interested to see how it ends.  I know if I have anything to do with it (and I do) it will end well.  Makes for riveting reading.  For me at least.