"Good story, tell it again!"

I didn't do much talking growing up. As a matter of fact, even to this day, anyone who knows me probably wouldn't pick me as the "person who never shuts up". I have to say that I can actually hold my own in a conversation due to much practice. I don't feel as scared or nervous anymore.

I never knew what to talk about. That was mainly the reason I suppose. Whenever we started getting cell phones teenagers and we would talk on the phone, I dreaded the question: "Sooo, what do you want to talk about"? I don't know about anyone else, but this was always so awkward for me. The pressure would rise up in me so fast as I would jog my mind for the first sensible thing to blurt out. That sensible thing usually ended up being something along the lines of "I don't know, what do you want to talk about"? Pressure subsides slightly. "I don't know, I asked you first...". Pressure builds back up...

One thing I noticed all those days I would blend in with a group of people in the hallways at school was the fact that someone always had a story to tell. They were always great stories! They made me laugh and built up excitement inside of me as I would paint a "mind movie" inside my head. I was always particularly good at doing that, ever since a little kid. I can imagine things to very fine details---as if I was actually involved in the story.

I came to college and met Eric Treuil and he became by far the best story teller I have ever known! He was funny and always had the crowd hanging on to his every word. How did he do it so well? 

Everyone doesn't start off with the gift of telling great stories in my opinion. There are great story tellers, but then there are bad ones. Some friends told me about our friend Lana who had to learn the hard way about good story telling. According to her, she would tell exciting stories(so she thought) to her softball teammates at practices. After she would finish her spill, she would get a not so nice reaction. Her teammates would clap and sarcastically chant "Gooood story, tell it again". Ouch. I can't imagine hearing that after telling what I thought would be a fantastic story.

No one wants to be that person at the party.  Heck, I pray to never be that person at the party.

Hearing about Lana made me start to ponder on what it took to tell a good story. I realized that stories are all about life. Every person has a life, therefore, providing great potential stories to tell. However, not everyone has experiences worth telling a story about. Yes, that is subjective, but hear me out.


Imagine I went to work every day and worked the same 9-5 shift. I would then come home and watch a couple of my favorite TV shows, eat some dinner, and then go to bed. What if that was the only thing I did...ever? I can't imagine much out of the ordinary happening too often. 

My good friend and mentor Lee spoke once about living a life worth telling about. This message was inspired by a book by author Donald Miller. He spoke about how we shouldn't shy away from experiences that are outside of the ordinary. These non-ordinary things are the life experiences worth telling about. 

I can tell you, I grew up striving to be super ordinary. I didn't like to do things that would make me the least bit uncomfortable. I didn't like to shake things up.  For example: I didn't eat any meat that wasn't chicken. I would only wear basketball shoes, and speaking of shoes, I never took mines off when walking in the sand. Like I said, ordinary. 

Some things have changed since then. I like steak and I occasionally take my shoes off on the beach now. I have experienced more things that are worth sharing. Which brings me to this last point. Now that I have opened my self up to some new experiences, new places, and new people; how do I make these into good stories to share? What does it take?

To be continued....