If you watched a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn't cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn't tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you'd seen. The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later, except you'd feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo.
But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to feel meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make a life meaningful either.
Here is another one of my favorite stories from the book:
A couple of weeks later, I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in years. We had some time, so we walked down to the Ugly Mug for coffee. I caught him up on stuff in my life then asked what was going on in his. He said he and his wife had a baby since he last saw me. A little girl. He pulled out his wallet and showed me pictures. I asked him if it was scary being a father, and he told me, no, he loved it. He said his life had gotten smaller. His world had shrunk to his wife and his kid, and all that mattered was keeping them safe.
"Your wife must be loving you", I said.
My friend went on to say he was more in love with his wife than ever, which is not something men usually say to each other, even if it's true. I don't know why we don't say those things, but we don't. So I knew he must really be crazy about his wife. He said he'd been preoccupied with work and hadn't paid much attention to life at home; but after the baby came, he saw his wife differently.
"She's amazing," my friend said, shaking his head. "A baby came out of her body, for crying out loud. And now she produces food. She keeps the baby alive."
I asked him how his wife felt about all of this, thinking she must be excited to have her husband back. My friend looked at me as though he were realizing he hadn't actually said anything to his wife.
"You haven't said anything?" I questioned.
"I guess I figured she knew," my friend suggested.
Enjoy!
-Lex
