The Written Life

Natasha Bedingfield’s song, “Unwritten” is always on the radio these days and her lyrics are intriguing and always stirs a flood of images in my head:

I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words that you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

First of all, maybe it’s because I’m 30-something I can’t relate to the line "Today is where your book begins." I feel like I’m in the middle of writing my book. I’ve got quite a number of completed chapters. Some plotlines are good, some are interesting, some are bad and there was a lot of times when I was spinning my wheels, but they’re all in my book.

There are some things I may want to forget or wish I could do over, but it’s written with indelible ink. Every paragraph was critical in helping move my story to where I am today. The good part is there are lots of nice clean pages ahead of me. I do have to refer to the past pages to know what to write in the new pages.

If I were in my 20’s, I definitely would have identified with the song. It’s because I felt that my life was always beginning I felt I could take risks and do the things I did.

The second line that strikes me is “No one else can speak the words on your lips.” It’s about personal responsibility. Your life can’t move forward unless you do it. You can read about the benefits of yoga, understand the history and philosophies. Yet, unless you get up and do a surya-namaskar (sun salutation), ain’t nothin’ gonna happen.

I have a great quote taped to my computer monitor: “Winners do what losers don’t want to do.” Yeah, there’s a lot of things no one wants to do. However, if you want to succeed, you will do it. Most likely you will do well if others are refusing to do it.