Beautiful story

My life is a beautiful story.

How many people have been told that? "Your life is a beautiful story".

A friend of mine last night said that to me, and ever since that line has been stuck in my head. I've been turning it over and over, considering, tasting, feeling.

And it's true. Yes, my life is a beautiful story. It's the sort of novel that I would enjoy reading. Not because it's full of happiness and romance or anything like that. No, because it's full of struggle, fight, battle, pain, sadness, despair. And in spite of that, I keep on fighting. I keep on trying. And slowly, step by step, I win. One victory after another. Small improvements here and there, tiny things, but they all add up and it turns into a beautiful story.

Who wants to read about lives where everything is just perfect? Where everything succeeds without a struggle? Who wants to hear about one victory after another that wasn't deserved, that wasn't worked for? Who wants to just read about happiness and people being happy?

No one. Why should we read about things only being good when we can never relate to it anyway. No, we want to read about things we can relate to ourselves. We want to read about things where we can put ourselves into the shoes of the main person and say: "Hey, my life isn't that bad after all. This girl here is having a rougher time than myself. But, I know how she feels, I've been there myself. I know how it is to go through things like this."

We like to relate to other people, to find similarities, shared grounds, emotions that are alike, battles that we can compare.

My life is a beautiful story.

That thought makes me smile. I never thought of it that way before. I never viewed my life in that light. I always focused on the happy ending I wanted. I always longed for that happy ending.

And listening to my friend last night. I paused. I stopped up. I thought.

And I realized. Yes, of course I want the happy ending. But I'm sad when I'm done with a book. It's over, I can't read it any longer. I'm enjoying to read about the struggle, the battle, the explorations. It's not the ending that I enjoy reading the most.

That said, of course I want the happy ending, I enjoy the happy ending of a book. We need the hope after all. We need to have that faith that one day, once all the struggle is over with and we have conquered. Then there will be happiness and romance. Then the hero and heroine will marry and live happily ever after.

But we hold that thought close to our hearts while we read about the struggles. And we enjoy reading the story knowing that there will - perhaps, for it's only a perhaps - be a happy ending one day.

My life is a beautiful story.

Dedicated to Todd, a dear friend.