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REAL TALK | LOVE & MARRIAGE
My Husband Hit A Wall — Then I Hit A Wall
Here’s what happened next
“Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant… if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.” — The Message
I’ve been thinking about this quote ever since we discussed it at my church small group last Tuesday. It came at the end of a Gospel verse about being true to yourself, and not being showy or giving in to ego games in your faith, your work, your life.
I am afflicted by the same fear all memoirists are afflicted by: the fear of the consequences of writing about your real life. If you say The Thing, buildings will fall and civilizations will end and families will be torn to pieces and so on.
That fear is strong, and yet we all know how it feels — you don’t have to be a writer to know this feeling — to say a watered-down version of The Thing. When we do this, we feel a sense of quiet discontent. “Hm, that’s close, but not quite the actual truth.”
This could be in conversation with a friend. Or your mother. Or your coworker. You set out aiming to say how things really are but you land just about 10 feet to the left.
