Write Your Life Story In 6 Words

A life written in 6 words, a condensation of time

Some weeks ago an individual in one of my LinkedIn Groups posted a challenge: write your life story in six words.

I actually spent one semester in college learning how to write a one-page term paper.  I believe it was a psychology course, but I remember that it was a very challenging course.  When the instructor told us the scope of the class and that the only grade to be received was the grade on the term paper, every student mouth gaped open for what seemed an eternity.

At the end of the class I truly appreciated the course material and received an "A" for my effort.  It was a grade of which I will be forever proud.

The challenge question definitely took me back in time, but limiting my answer to just six words led to prolonged thought.  I remember the six words I used, but I wonder now if that story could be improved.

Criteria?

What set of criteria does one use to answer such a challenge?  Surely there is more to one's life that the number of years lived to date.  The story of a life is not what one lists on a resume.  The information contained on a resume certainly contributed to one's life, but that does not a story make.

Does family help define a life story?  A family, or the lack of a family, contributes to the experiences and choices one makes in life, but again, not a life story.

What about work experience?  Well, people like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Nobel Peace Prize winners, inventors and scientists can certainly claim their work experience contributed to their life stories, but people invent things, win prizes and cure diseases throughout their lifetime.  

Age can be a good criteria, but you can not really determine a "cut off" age.  No one knows how long their life will last.  If death is used to determine the time when a life's story can be written, the story becomes a report...an obituary or a biography and is third-party written.

When do you write an autobiography?

That question is purely subjective.  Would I write an autobiography?  No; I cannot imagine anyone wanting to read my autobiography.  My opinion is that one writes an autobiography upon the completion of a noteworthy goal.  Just because an autobiography is written is no guarantee the material will be found interesting, and yet if someone considered a celebrity writes an autobiography,  a publisher will be found or the book will be self-published, and depending upon the celebrity the books will fly off the shelves and go into multiple printings.

What I'd want someone to know about my life

There are things about my life I would share for "public consumption":

1. I have reinvented my life no less than 4 times.  Typically, a reinvention occurs after a major life event.  Major life events mostly fall into the "challenge" category, and although challenging I always find gratitude for the events and the ability to rise above in the guise of a stronger person.
2. Like everyone else, I have made mistakes, lots and lots of mistakes.  I have learned from these mistakes.  Learning from mistakes is infinitely better than reliving the pain caused by the mistake.
3. I am greatly blessed to have family and friends who love and support me,  children and grandchildren who love, respect and also admire me, the unconditional love of a dog (although technically I accept I am her #2 person), and a husband who is in every way exactly the life partner and love that I need and want.
4. I have found great happiness in my life through many avenues.  Life is, afterall, a path one follows.  I have been blessed with opportunities of choice.  I have been blessed with a certain amount of talent.  I have been blessed.
5. Here are the six words about my life that matter:

Reinvented, challenged, enlightened, and blessed: Alive!

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Today is Challenge DAY! (Gulp!)

July Ultimate Blogging Challenge*

I follow a lot of people on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter and as I result, I receive copious amounts of email.  Seriously.  Co-pee-us.  

I try to stay organized (you have to when you run six different email addresses), and of necessity I need to use ruthless tactics to stay one step ahead of it.  Some days are more successful than others, so when I searched for the JUBC* info I became very frustrated when unable to locate information I know I saw two days ago.

As a result, I believe I enrolled at least 3 times.  I do have a JUBC* folder standing by at the ready, and I even posted a pre-challenge blog.  I still am uncertain how to access the Facebook JUBC* group page <sigh>, or how to let Michelle Shaeffer and anyone else know when and where I've published my posts.  Nevertheless, I have begun.

WHY Blog?

I have wanted to be a "writer" for most of my life.  My favorite classes in school and college all contained lots of writing exercises.  Somewhere along the line I became very sensitive about putting my words "out there".  

I fooled myself into believing that as long as I was staying within the realm of blogging, writing training articles, and posting on LinkedIn that I was not really putting my talent on the line.  After all, I was not writing poetry, short stories or fiction.  

As a business owner, mentor and trainer I need to be able to communicate well in order to build a strong team and to be able to recruit people to join my team.  Writing is a large part of building. I have relied on my writing ability throughout my entire working career as an Executive Administrative Assistant, and have learned and improved along the way.  I look at blogging as an ongoing learning process.  This challenge, although daunting, will prove to be a valuable learning experience.

What is next?

Participation in the JUBC* has already provided me pages and pages of material designed to help me navigate the pathway to successful blogging. If you blog, part of you dreams about becoming popular and respected for your posts and part of you dreams of earning actual money for your efforts.  Just imagine being paid to write!  You can see which aspect holds the most attraction for me.

Having ideas for blogging topics may not be the biggest challenge for me; organizing my thoughts and providing valuable information to my reader is a large challenge and at times fills me with trepidation.

I hope to obtain feedback from other bloggers and experts during this next month of writing.  I hope to accept criticism gracefully.  I hope to learn from all the other participants.  I hope to be coherent at the end of this month.