Facts, by themselves, can be rather boring. They become interesting when presented metaphorically; they may actually become memorable if wrapped in a story.

You can Google almost anything you’d like to know; you can even ask your annoying virtual assistant to look it up for you. The facts are at your fingertips or within easy earshot. It’s the relatability that makes them relevant, however. It’s when you connect with the information that it captures meaning.

As an example, back in high school some students might have considered American History to be irrelevant to “modern life”, when faced with a thick textbook. It’s full of years, events, unusual names and countless facts. What did they all mean? Perhaps not much more than a history test score at the time…

Yet when the lives of American History become animated through stories, they suddenly gain relatability. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, John Adams, James Madison, Aaron Burr (and many more) lived through the uncertain and tumultuous times that resulted in a nation’s birth. They are only names, until you learn their stories; and, when you learn their stories, you can begin to understand how we arrived at this place in time.

Our lives are built upon the foundation of those who came before us; we inherit their DNA, yet we only discover their stories when we care enough to explore their relatability to our own.

The fabric of a life is woven through countless stories that came before; the more you know about them, the higher the thread count you can wrap yourself in and the more comfortable you become in your own beliefs and your outlook.

It’s up to us to honor those whose lives have honored us. Learning their stories helps us write our own.

Tempus Maximize!