Maurice Clarett's Cautionary Tale
Former football star armed and arrested after high-speed chase is the author of his own story.
Life is a story in which we each write, publish, and play the lead role. We can easily see this in others, for example the recent story of Maurice Clarett.
Life stories make for interesting reading. Biographies and autobiographies of well-known people help us relate to famous individuals as human beings. Though life story implies a look back, often a long look back over a lifetime, it is helpful to think of life as a story that we write each day of our lives. We author, publish, cast supporting roles, and play the lead character.
It's often easier to recognize in others the degree to which we all write our life stories. Maurice Clarett's recent arrest provides a good example. Clarett, who as a freshman running back led the Ohio State University to a national football championship in 2002, recently made headlines again--this time for leading the police on a high speed chase. He proved just as difficult to stop on the road as on the gridiron. When finally contained and subdued he was dressed in body armor, had several loaded guns, a hatchet, and an open bottle of vodka.
A talented high school player from a tough neighborhood, Clarett rose to football prominence and his life seemed headed for a feel-good success story. He graduated early from high school with good grades, enrolled in college, and quickly made an impact on the field of play.
Clearly, Clarett is at cause for both his early success and his recent failure. Perhaps his downward spiral will continue or maybe he'll reverse this trend in future life chapters. He's still writing the Maurice Clarett life story.
I write my own life story with every belief I hold about myself and every idea I have about the world around me. So do you. It's easy to see that when we look at someone else. Not as easy to see that about our own lives.
Thinking of myself as author of my life is wonderfully empowering. It places responsibility for life clearly on my shoulders. I decide the theme of my next life chapter: sunshine and flowers or dark and stormy. Will it be a chapter of great personal growth, or like Clarett's, a chapter of setback and decline? What role will I play: victim, hero, champion, follower, leader, or failure?
As long as I am alive, I am in charge of my story. Now I sit in front of my keyboard of life trying to decide on my next chapter. I think I will...well, you'll have to come back to see for yourself when I finish that chapter.
