“He didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.”[1]
Think of viewing your life as theater, as an ongoing collection of dramatic works in which you are playing the leading role.
IT’S YOUR STORY presented in three major acts.
Act One(birth to 30somethings) is the Setup, a period of explorationin which you prepare and position yourself to understand and engage in your new world.
Act Two(30-60somethings) is the Confrontation, a season of employment and empowerment,during which you build a life out of family, newly learned skills, unique gifts and callings.
Act Three(60somethings-plus) is the Resolution, the climaxin which the strains, tensions, and conflicts of your life are resolved and questions answered, leaving you with a sense of who you really are, and equipping you to listen, interpret, andinspire the generations following you as they construct their own stories and seek to transform their own new world.
IT IS LIFE AS IT’S MEANT TO BE.
Clarence Budington “Bud” Kelland (1881-1964), once described himself as “the best second-rate writer in America” I like his humility. He wrote 60 novels and 200 short stories showinghe was more than “second-rate.” I like that, too. He knew what he wanted to do and who he wanted to be. He was an influencer.
“We understand our own stories best by seeing us in someone else.”[2]
Our story as a Christian leader is more than what we do at work. It’s before and after work, too. It’s our 24/7 story, written and read from “a leader in Christ”viewpoint.
I try to bring fresh perspective to every generation, and especially those over 50, from someone who is where you one day hope to be. Four hundred to a thousand words. And it’s FREE. Tap Get Insider Access, register, and each week in your email you’ll get fresh “Perspective” on living, learning and leading as a follower of Jesus. If you’re not 50 yet, the perspective of those who are will make you a better colleague and influencer.
HE DIDN’T TELL ME HOW TO LIVE
No, he didn’t. My dad, who graduated from the sixth grade, showed me. I grew up a country boy, grades 1-8 in a one room country school, became a follower of Jesus, studied at more schools, graduated a couple of times, married an amazing woman, became a father, grandfather, great grandfather; engaged in youth and college ministry, pastored in three churches, and helped mentor Christian business and ministry leaders throughout the US and Canada. In all this, Dad was an influence long after he was gone. And in your world, so are you! Trust me on this. Being an influencer is more about showing than telling.
HE LIVED
I am now embracing my 9th decade in this world! So it’s possible I may have been close to where you are now at some time in my life. I’ve been in all the US states but one, and in over 50 other countries, some numerous times, growing with different peoples and cultures. I stay connected with religious, business and professional leaders, some of whom gather in my living room on Wednesday mornings to listen, interpret, and inspire. They keep me centered, first by showing, then by telling.
I am a widower, with 2 married children, 3 grandchildren, 4 step-grandchildren and 2 great grandsons. Life continues to be a holy adventure. I enjoy family, quiet evenings, good books and movies, sports, swimming, golf, travel, long walks with GAGE the wonder dog, and I live in the Pacific Northwest.
AND LET ME WATCH HIM DO IT
It’s different where you are. I know that. And it’s the same, too. Pastors, business and professional leaders, retirees, parents with adult children, adult children with aging parents, we all long for it, something more to life than fame or fortune. We want to see and understand and engage the realreason we are still here. The “why” of us.
For this to happen, we need honest answers to three great questions: 1) who is God in my life right now? 2) who am I in this powerful new season of my life? 3) what shall I do with the years that remain? Over a lifetime my answers have changed. But not the questions. Notyour questions yet? Perhaps they should be.
Accept my invitation to join hundreds of leaders as we let fresh“Perspective”in life’s ordinary elements of pathos and humor, pros and poetry, reason and faith, facts and fiction, bump up against ancient biblical truths and 21st century living.
View your life as theatre. IT’S YOUR STORY. Which “act” are you in? What questions are you asking?
“We understand our own stories best by seeing us in someone else”
Ward Tanneberg
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