THE SCRIPTWRITER

Brethren, I do not consider that I have made it my own;

But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind

and straining forward to what lies ahead,

I press on toward the goal for the prize

of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:13 - 14

Following my last post First Quarter Review I was diligent enough to go through the plan I had mapped out in January. Looking back, I realised that even though I knew what I wanted to achieve, I did not understand fully, the pathway, resources, or some actions I needed to engage in, to make this happen.

That plan from January onwards, became the movie script for me up onto the point of review. However, along with maturity in the understanding of God's will and mandate for us, comes Wisdom, insight and further clarity of what is required on this journey called life.

Well after review with renewed understanding, wisdom and insight, I realised that I did not like the script I was living out and needed to do something about it.

So what did I do, I hear you ask. I TORE THE THE SCRIPT.

Yes, like a Hollywood writer tears up a script, so many times, before he/she writes up that perfect movie, I did the same to my plans, the script I had been living out and directing, since the onset of this year. I realised that if I did not like where my life was going, the power is in my hands to change it. And the way I can do that is to simply re-write the script with renewed wisdom. There is no point waking up everyday, complaining about the same issues, and problems, wishing for things to change, but not do anything about it. It is quite silly, and even more so, when I know the power and responsibility to change things lies within the very palm of my hands. So, like the NIKE Slogan encourages, "JUST DO IT"... and so I did.

I envisage our lives to be a 'movie in motion', of which we are the main character, the main actors. Our lives, whether consciously or unconsciously, is living out a script, written and directed by someone or something.

At this point, I must ask, "whose script are you living out? The one you wrote through God's wisdom, or the one the world presented you?" . Who is your director? You or the world at large?

Lamentations 3:22-23 reads "22It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassion's fail not. 23They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness.

Everyday by God's grace, we wake up with the ability to write a new script, if we don't like the one we lived out the previous day. The unfortunate thing is most of us don't take this advantage, of this gift, of our ability or responsibility to change our lives around. Instead, we keep our attention tuned to the same old stuff, hence every new day becomes a replica of the last.


So, I don't like the script I am acting out right now, I would like to change it, what do I do? I hear you ask.

Here are a few things we can all do:

• Change our thinking and outlook from the present to the desired state: The desired state we want our lives to be. We must focus our mind and eyes on the future we want for ourselves. What life movie do we want our lives to be about? Conjure it up and shape it within our minds.
  


• Create the life we want on paper: Write what you imagine your life to be on paper. Write the script, starting with the present state of things. If we want to experience changes in our lives, we must make a conscious effort (thinking and acting) to make this happen. Introduce the main character & actor (the current you) to yourself. What I do is to write my script by thinking in the 'third person', thus separating the perspective away from myself. This helps me not to be biased by what I am putting together. I make it read like I am observing my life from another person's perspective. After all, it will eventually become a movie (I will live it out daily) and I would also like to think, if it became a feature length movie, it will be come a Block Buster hit! An example of such writing is thus: "Elizabeth, is a single beautiful woman, that lives in London, England. She is a qualified Architect and works in one of the middle sized firms in the city. Elizabeth has a normal life; she works, goes out with the little friends she has. On the surface, she looks like she is okay, but he reality is that she is bored, tired and fed up of where her life is going - nowhere. Everyday seems to be one long and endless day of boring similarities. She desires, wants and hungers for change, but she is unsure of how to instigate this." I tell you, when you put this on paper, you will realise how well or how bad your current life script is!
  

• Move beyond the introduction: Take the main character & actor (yourself) beyond the now. Start adding future dreams, ambitions that the character desires. Make the character interesting, successful, an achiever and a go-getter. In line with the dreams and desires God has given you, add a huge dose of imagination. With God nothing is impossible, so when going beyond the now, let there be no impossibilities within the realities of your script! Dream Big, Write your script Big.
  


• Define Emotions: Start to define the character's emotions, in view of achieving all these dreams and ambitions. For example, "Elizabeth felt encouraged when she thought about finally putting that book together and having it published. She was having butterflies in her tummy, just thinking about walking into one of the main bookshops in the country and seeing her book on display for all to see. The more she thought about it, the more she expanded the script and the more she got excited by it all. "
  

As scriptwriters of our lives, we must understand that the words we put together, are powerful and life changing when played (lived) out for real. To have a good movie script is to have further encouragement to live a life beyond limitations.

I also believe having a script supported by a plan, further helps to keep us on track, to keep our eyes and actions focused on the task at hand and ultimately the purpose for it all, for God's glory.
James 4:4 reads "For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away".

In as much as we don't hold tomorrow in our hands, and it is only by God's grace that we are gifted with the beauty of a new day to start anew; It would be a joy to know that for the little time we are here, our lives was a block buster hit movie, it meant something to someone, it encouraged someone, it left a legacy and ultimately it glorified God.

Have an awesome time, writing your life script, making you the best actor, director and producer of your life, with God's help and according to his will for you. I pray as you write, you are further encouraged to be all that God wants you to be; whilst making him famous along the way.

A big thank you to Simeon for inspiring this post. "Yes the actor /actress does not die!"

Much love

Remi Banjo

***Picture by photobucket***