Rewriting Life

I've done a lot of editing of books this year, rewriting too.

Today I'm thinking how different everything would be if we could edit or rewrite our lives the way we authors update and upgrade our works.

While I believe much of our lives would remain the same because we would choose to not change things, we'd likely decide to erase some of the things we've done and either do nothing or something totally different. In some cases, when we chose to sit on the sidelines, we may choose instead to take an active part in correcting a wrong we had witnessed.

If you could "rewrite" or "edit" a part of your life, what would it be?

As for me, I would have made writing a priority much earlier in my life because, once I did, my life got better. I felt more accomplished and fulfilled. And who among us doesn't want to feel fulfilled?

I'd also have liked to have been a lot stronger when I was younger. I let too many people push me around, and it stifled me and held me back from accomplishing things I wanted to do until later in life.

DANGER: While editing and rewriting in books usually causes an improvement because the author has a firm control on the actions and reactions of characters, editing and rewriting in real life, if it were possible, would not be the same because people are not fictional characters, and they don't behave like they are.

Anything we do directly affects people around us, and it affects us too. Our life experiences make us who we are based upon our reactions to what happens to us. Other people become who they are sometimes as a direct result of something we may have done to or for them.

While we cannot rewrite the past we can shape our future. We can choose to make the same mistakes again even if we regret having made them or we can decide to live a certain way and follow that plan, doing our edits and rewrites as we go along by taking time to think before we act.

Doable, yes, but not always easy.

This is getting a little heavy. I think it's time to stop thinking so much about rewriting life, which is often too hard, and go back to doing my edits and rewrites on my current fictional project. We'll probably all be happier if I do. :-)

Here's hoping your week is a wonderful one, full of God's blessings.

Fran

Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
http://sites.google.com/site/fshaff