We all have our stories. We all have great tales of adventure and romance, success and failure, disappointment, heartbreak, exhilaration and fulfillment. I can guarantee that if you sit down with anyone, from your college or your job or even that cutie sitting by you in Starbucks, you will learn something about them that you never could have imagined, and you will find that in some way, their story relates to your own.
Humans are social beings by nature; we are wired to interact and connect, to form relationships and alliances. But most often, we find ourselves just trying to get through the day. We keep our heads down as we trudge across campus to our next class, and when we find ourselves in the midst of a crowd, in line perhaps or waiting for a lecture to start, we immediately pull out our phones and try to look busy. We keep our experiences to ourselves, especially the negative ones. We try to fight our struggles on our own and then bury them in the past and try to never think of them.
I want you to think about the worst moment you've had in the past year when nothing was going right, and you just wanted to give up. Who did you tell? How much would it have helped for someone to say, "Hey, it's OK. Two months ago, I was in the same place as you?" They would have shared their story, the ugly details and their ultimate recovery, and you in turn would have found strength for yourself. Chances are though, if you're anything like me and everyone I know, you didn't tell anyone. Chances are, you toughed it out on your own. After all, you wouldn't want anyone to think less of you. Now think about your biggest accomplishment this year. Think about the pride and the joy you felt. I'll bet you told your parents, your friends and probably everyone who asked why you were so giddy. My question for you now is, what's the difference? And what is the point of all these negative experiences if you can't share them?
The simple truth of life is that we all struggle, we all fail, we all reach our breaking point. Every single person you know has had a messy breakup, failed a class, lost a loved one, suffered some kind of unfair, unjustifiable pain. And usually finding out what those struggles are requires just a few simple questions. So, my challenge to you is to ask those questions, take the time to connect with another human being on that deeper, personal level and just see what comes of it. I think you will find that in sharing your triumphs you will find inspiration and satisfaction, and in sharing your struggles you will find comfort and strength.
