Hello and welcome.

August—and the quickening that happens as we move closer to the fall. It's a time for late summer moments as we soak up all we can before the change of seasons that is coming. And as with all transitions, their beginnings and endings are happening at the same time. There isn't a clear delineation between them, which underscores the process of time unfolding vs. one aspect of it stopping while another one begins. 

And since it's a process, we are reminded that we can affect change at any time during it. We can shift gears, make different choices, allow for other options, encounters, and possibilities—in short we can to a certain extent write our own stories. The key is to make them relatively drama free instead of becoming a soap opera that we're living in.

And what makes a good soap opera? Two major factors: boundaries are not in play and the truth is not being spoken. This makes for great audience retention, however it doesn't play very well in real life, does it?

Think about it. Every time we choose not to practice boundaries or speak the truth, tangled situations just become more so; righting them takes much longer, and the fallout can be just this side of damage control. While we edit, soft pedal, delay, and fuss, whatever we're hoping to avoid becomes front and center.

So the more efficient practice is to craft the moments of our lives with a minimum of fuss and upset while we live the narrative we're creating. 

What are the qualities of your "Storylines" (2:24)?