A part of your story you don’t get to write …

Serving as the Editor of a national award-winning high school newspaper for a couple of years got me a job writing for newspapers shortly after graduation.

I loved it!

It was both fun and challenging, and I learned a great deal more about writing.

Then I became an Editor, designing newspapers and editing everyone else’s work. With that came the responsibility of writing headlines, a far more daunting task than I had imagined.

It’s the headlines that capture the interest and attention of the reader, drawing them into a story. But the headline also is the loudest and most obvious representative of the story. So it was important that the headline remain true to the contents provided by the writer.

As a writer, I sometimes didn’t like the headline provided for my stories. Occasionally, I found myself scratching my head and wondering, “How did the Editor get THAT from MY story?”

Life is a little that way.

Your life may be an interesting story, but you don’t get to write the headline.

Others will place atop your story what they initially perceive or understand about you. What they observe about you becomes how they introduce you. That’s how you’ll be represented by them, whether it’s accurate or not.

From the actions and attitudes your life displays, what would the accurate headline be? Would others be drawn into the story, or continue to search for something else to read?

“A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.” Proverbs 22:1.

Scotty