0.5 // CONNECT THE DOTS

WAY TO LIVE_PROLOGUE[0.5]

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We all have dots. Experiences, events, moments, memories. We go through life, and meaningful things happen to us. These things are points in time, or dots, that we go back to.

The thing about dots is that they end up connecting to each other.

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We all have lines. Lines are what give the dots meaning. We use lines to connect our dots. We do this by saying, “Here’s what this meant to me” or “Here’s what I learned.” Sometimes we connect dots by saying, “I’ll never go to that place again” or “I’m glad that’s over.” We connect dots in our life to make sense of ourselves and the world around us. We decide which direction the lines point, but all of us have lines that connect our dots together.

The thing about lines is that they turn into shapes.

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The moments (dots) become meaning (lines). The meaning we give to moments creates the shape of our life. The shape of our lives is dictated by how we choose to connect our dots. The meaning that we give our moments is what makes us who we are.

There is something about groups of three:

Faith, hope and love.

Stop, look and listen.

Good stories have a beginning, middle and end.

In photography there is the rule of thirds.

The trinity is Father, Spirit and Son.

We all have a past, present and future.

We are spirit, soul and body.

There are three blind mice,

three little pigs,

three musketeers,

three stooges and three wise men.

In the United States, the Declaration of Independence states our unalienable rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

We want a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

We give our blood, sweat and tears to the causes we support.

We tell our friends, Romans and countrymen that we came, we saw and we conquered.

Schoolhouse Rock even taught us that three is a magic number.

A triangle has three points connected by three lines. A point by itself is not a triangle, neither is a line. This is simple for us to understand. Lines and points are not triangles. But if they are arranged in a certain way, they can form a triangle.

There are three dots we must connect in life:

Knowing God

Knowing ourselves

Deciding our role

Those are the most significant dots we can ever connect. Connecting dots on a piece of paper forms shapes. Connecting dots in our lives will determine the shape of our life. As we connect our dots, it may be helpful for us to visualize our life as a triangle. There are things inside and outside of that triangle. But we’ll get to that. Let’s start with the first dot.