The Stories We Tell

"I thought I'd found myself in a world that, in order for me to fit into it, I had to fold myself up and break myself down. But it's a tight squeeze in a box that's only good for hiding."

"We've all dropped anchor in places that suited us for a time: a city, a perspective, a lie we mistook as truth. This book is an invitation to hold what you believe--about yourself and the quiet worlds behind the people you pass--with gracious and open hands. To see this life as greater than any past or future thing, but for all the beauty, hope, and joy it holds right now. To take stock of the story your life has been writing--the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly--glean what's gold, and carry only that forward.

I hope for the both of us, that when fear comes rushing in, we'll be wise enough to question what belies it. And whether it's shame, uncertainty, or a sense of unworth, we'll remember that--as powerful as those emotions are--we are not powerless to them. That they are ours to hold and to own and to wrestle to the ground. Even when they look and act and sound like protection, they are what keep us from living life with our whole hearts.

And I hope for the both of us, that we'll remember discomfort means we're making progress, and that vulnerability, in all its messiness, is the only way we move forward courageously. And maybe more than anything, I hope we'll remember that this is how we tell our story--in search of truth. In plain sight. So that we may live and share our lives in full.

Let it slow our feet and steady our life-in-motion so we can see where we stand from a new point of view. No longer through weary or uncertain eyes, but a lens brimming with hope. A life that when it whispers "untether," we find ourselves brave enough to. These are the stories we live. These are the stories we tell."-- Joanna Gaines