Stories have been around for millennia. They educate. They inspire. They persuade.
Every good story follows a formula known as the "Hero's Journey."
Just about every good book or movie follows this template.
Whenever a daring author or filmmaker tries to deviate, it inevitably ends up being a flop.
It goes like this.
You have the hero, whose world is normal. Things are good.
Then, something changes in the hero's world. A problem, a villain, whatever it may be. The hero has a problem that needs to be overcome. And the hero has to make a choice.
A guide enters the picture somewhere around here. This would be Yoda in Star Wars. The guide doesn't solve the hero's problem directly. But the guide informs the hero what must be done.
And gives the hero a plan of action.
The hero takes the plan, and moves forth. He encounters challenges, but overcomes them and is victorious.
Not only avoiding defeat, but becoming transformed in the process of overcoming the challenge.
And at the end, the hero has not only overcome the problem, but become a new person altogether. The hero is a changed person when he returns home, never to return to his old life.
Again - just about every movie you've ever seen contains these features of a good story.
But here's what's interesting (you know there's always something interesting, right?).
We are all experiencing our own stories now.
You are the hero.
And you can make choices how things play out when things get tough.
And the coolest part is, when they do get tough, you don't need to give up. In fact, you should be inspired and excited.
Because instead of feeling like it's time to throw in the towel, you can say, "I'm in THAT part of the story in the Hero's Journey!"
And you know what victory and transformation await you if you persevere and stay the course.
We can make our story and our own Hero's Journey anything we want.
So, let's make it a happy ending.