Plots: What We Know and What We Figure Out Later

Ever wonder just how each event or person impacts the plot of a story? I have. And I have learned a few lessons, like many of you. Every word, every situation, every action, every character, impacts the story. We may not understand how the story will unfold or which character will play a lead role in the climax, but rest assured it is all important. Without the unknown woman walking through the door, the lady sitting across the library table or the girl coming to the rescue, the plot changes. Sometimes dramatically.

Can we be a part of the plot? Everyday we have the opportunity. We step from bed and into the scene. We talk. We decide. We act. We love. It all adds to the plot. To ours and to others.
Where will I be in the unfolding plot tomorrow? Will I sit on a park bench and offer kind words to the discouraged one or choose to sit quietly? Will I hug the hurting or let someone else do the hugging? It all matters.

This is a seemingly off-topic blog, but a closer read begs a thoughtful pause. Think about the roles we play in the plot. Think about the roles others have played. How do we convey to our kids the role they play in the plot? By living the story. Each story is a story to be lived in order to be learned. They will look back and remember the wrinkled hands that held theirs. They will remember the smell of the soup kitchen in which they served warm meals on a cold day. They will remember walking the battlefields. Lessons learned from the plot of life. Lessons that don't become known, sometimes years later.

Reading books that invite us into the plots of others help us (including our children) learn. When we put our hands under the cool water, pumped out from the garden pump, we think of Helen Keller's courage to learn. When we fly in an airplane, we remember the brave Wright Brothers determination to fly. When we snorkel while on vacation, we understand the significance of an untethered breathing apparatus. All lessons learned from the lives of those who walked before us. Our lives today are no different. The plot is being written. What will we learn from our efforts? What will others learn from us? It is all to be determined....today, but maybe not discovered until later.