Go for the Gold in Your Valuable Life Story
By: Susan McKenzie
Often, when people first hear about writing their life story, the first thing they think about is all the DIRT in their lives! I've learned to simply smile… because we all have dirt. That's just life on planet earth. But what I know, from years of experience in listening to people's stories – even all the dirt – is that EVERYONE HAS A GIFT to share with the world. There are precious golden nuggets hidden within the story of your life.
I first learned about digging for gold at our homestead in Montana. Having just suffered a devastating spinal cord injury, the rural riverfront property in the mountains of northwest Montana seemed the very last place on earth for a Midwestern city girl to bring her disabled husband. But somehow I just KNEW this land would pay for itself and bring healing to my husband.
We cleared trees, moved in, and began exploring the wild, rugged country. It wasn't long before we were discovering gold in the recently turned up soil. Across the river, we scouted out some more abandoned properties. Historically, we were situated in a post-gold boom region full of ancient gold mines and abandoned mining camps. Small amounts of gold could be found everywhere, for anyone who wanted to take the time to dig through the dirt.
Nevertheless, it wasn't long before we realized that the land was NOT going to pay for itself by panning and digging for gold! We just didn't have the right tools. Just a few miles up the mountain there were several prospectors who were daily collecting copious amounts of gold nuggets and flakes. My husband would visit them and receive hands-on teaching on how to operate the sluice boxes, and this was the secret to striking gold… owning and operating with the right tools – like sluice boxes!
We never did buy a sluice box … instead God healed my husband's back and took away his pain. We sold our house in the wilderness and embarked on a 3-year ministry tour, helping to plant churches… a new life. Our house sold for more than what we paid for it, and our profit was almost the exact amount of the cost of the land! My gut instinct that my husband would be healed and the land would pay for itself paid off in ways we could not have predicted!
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Now one of my husband's passions is back… horseback riding. These days we live in the Wyoming high desert country… thousands of acres of "wild west" with antelope, bison, and plenty of horses. With the pain gone, we can now enjoy time to talk about what really matters: The valuable life experiences that have shaped our lives. We want to leave a better legacy for our children than we have lived up till now. We want to give them the "gold nuggets" we've learned from oftentimes harsh experiences and painful moments.
We are all writing our life stories every day, whether we realize it or not. Our lives are like treasure chests full of gold and precious gems… but without the right tools, these stories often go untold!
Yesterday I was in a local cafe interviewing an old cowgirl. For about three hours I sat enthralled as all the stories poured out of her while her roast beef sandwich grew cold. For a woman who has been a ranch hand, horse trainer, and often spent her days training as many as 30 horses at a time, you can imagine she was a tough woman, but then the clincher came… and in that one story, all the pieces of her life fell into a beautiful pattern, like a mosaic.
Quickly setting down my Trailblazer burger, I grabbed a pen and paper – this one story was the entrance to her gold mine and each pure golden nugget was going to be refined so that many other people can profit from her valuable life experience. We immediately began thinking of individuals in our local community whose lives would very likely be transformed if they only heard her story!
I just love this part of life story writing… helping people to see the gold in their own treasure chest of life experiences! It's what gives me all the energy I have to sit and listen for hours to people sharing their stories!
When we tell our stories, people's lives are changed.
My gut instinct tells me that this woman's story is a virtual gold mine and it will help heal many lives in our small community. Our stories help us to create "tribes" or networks of people who share common values, usually best communicated in story form. This is really the basis for a healthy society!
In ancient times, it was common for people to live in "tribes" or people groups. This tendency to "herd" is still crucial to a healthy society and it's probably best demonstrated in our local high schools and colleges where each person is identified by their class, club, team, or gang. At the foundational level of society, we are defined by our associations… the most primary association is our family. What not only defines a group but keeps them bonded, are their stories.
When we tell our stories, families and communities form tight bonds.
When my husband and I were learning how to dig and to pan for gold, the first thing we discovered is that it's hard work! You have to go through hundreds of pounds of dirt to glean a few golden flakes! Every so often you get a real nugget.
You need the right tools if you want to haul in the most gold. And with the very best tools, you can dig for gold in style! And that's my gift to you … 365 Life Story Interview Prompts – your free book is included in our All-in-One Life Story Kit you may download by completing the form below!
These questions are specially designed to extract the biggest gold nuggets out of anyone's life. Not only that, but in a very simple step-by-step blueprint that anyone can do, we'll show you how to craft your life story into a gorgeous full-color book that will be treasured for generations!
I'd love to be a part of sharing your life story and drawing out the gold nuggets with our special 365 Live Story Interview Prompts! Your life is full of gold … let's finish 2010 shining!
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