Everybody has a story, and each is unique, one of a kind. You were born into a certain set of circumstances, and you have thus far worked with it the best you could. You’re had opportunities and challenges, and have arrived at this point in time shaped by how you’ve dealt with them.

Yet there are also common themes in all lives. Mythologist Joseph Campbell wrote about the Hero’s Journey, and others have written about the Heroine’s Journey.

However you identify yourself, and of course there are other options, the fact is we are all on a journey through life.

In the template of the journey, the hero or heroine goes on an adventure. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines adventure as ‘an exciting or dangerous experience.’ At some point, the hero or heroine must go through a decisive crisis, or meet a particular challenge, and then return home having been transformed.

To my mind, this journey doesn’t happen only once, but is continuous. In every phase of life we are called upon to face challenges, to go through crises, and meet them as well as we can. In this way we also go through continual changes.

When was a time when you were compelled to make a decision, to take a certain step, or overcome an obstacle so that you could move forward? These callings may have felt either tempting or daunting, or perhaps a combination of both.

Once we have to gone through one of these critical junctures, we are changed by the experience. We have either taken the step, or hesitated and perhaps stayed where we were. But eventually we’re going to have to change whether we like it or not. That is the nature of life.

Here is a suggestion:

Write about one of the times in your life when you were faced with a decision, a choice, a temptation. What did you do? Did you follow through? Did you resist? What was the result?

What are you facing now and how can past experience guide you?

“Close scrutiny will show that most ‘crisis situations’ are opportunities to either advance, or stay where you are.” Maxwell Maltz

“When written in Chinese, the word crisis is composed of two characters — one represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.” John F. Kennedy