I've always been a curious person. I was the kid who was always taking apart things to see what was inside them, and then not being able to put them back together.  I've dismantled more household appliances than the Maytag Man. When our old family computer bit the dust, I was there with a screwdriver ready to take that baby apart. Did I fix it? Of course not. I wasn't in it to fix it. I wanted to see the circuit boards, and the hard drive, and the disk drive. It was almost like an autopsy on a computer. My diagnosis? It was a piece of junk.

I've always wanted to know. Know how things work and are made, how to do it, why it's here. 

So naturally, I was also always the kid who asked the question that titles this blog: What if?
As in, what if I rip the disk drive out of this old computer? or What if I want to go into TV news? These questions helped me develop the base of knowledge (You can debate amongst yourselves how deep it is) that I've come to have.

It was one of these "What if" moments that led to my belief in God. I was 16, working in Mr. Schaal's biology class, reading up on the Krebs Cycle in corn plants. This process happens in every organism that needs oxygen to live, so that means you and me too.  I couldn't explain it to you now if I wanted to as there are a lot of big words and abbreviations involved, but it's a complex chemical reaction that makes the energy we need to live. It seemed too complex to even be able to happen, like it was the result of some sort of  command. This couldn't be an accident. All of this, all of what we call life, and earth, and the universe simply couldn't have just happened. It's just too much.
That's when it hit me:
What if this is something that was supposed to happen? What if something, or someone, made this happen?

But my problem is I've only used "What if" for other things, never for myself.

But recently one of my favorite authors, Donald Miller, posted something on his blog about the power of "What if" in our lives and how it pushes us on to living better lives. Or as he so beautifully puts it, "living a better story." Now Don has issued what he calls the "What If Challenge". The point is to think about the "What ifs" we have in our lives and to act upon them. Because, as Miller once again wonderfully wrote, "People grow when they are in motion."

So, I've taken him up on his challenge, and taken it to another level. I didn't want to just write them down in a notebook and forget about them, so I got some post-its and started writing them down. I found some blank space on the wall at the foot of my bed and started sticking them up. Let me show you the new "What if Wall".

On each of these post-its is something for me to do, a goal I would like to achieve, or a personal trait I would like to embrace more. They're all phrased as "What if I..."

Some are simple things I should do each day.

Some are what I need to do to help myself.

Some are what I need to do to help others.

Some scare the crap out of me, which I hear is a good thing.

And some I use to suck up to Donald Miller in hopes he reads this. Seriously though, I so want to be a part of
The Mentoring Project when it goes nationwide. I come across examples every day of why it's needed so desperately here in St. Louis. I'll do whatever I can to help it along.

So that's my "What if Wall." There are 13 ways I can change my story for the better up there right now, and I will surely add more as I think of them.

I challenge all of you to do the same. It only took me 30 minutes to come up with all of these. Miller suggests you start with five, but I have a lot on my mind right now.

Two tips before you begin:
1. Be sure they're things that you can control, and things you will do from here on. No "What if I had taken that job 2 years ago?" This is not a forum for regrets. This is about  how you will move forward and change your world for the better. And because these are things you will be doing...

2.  When you write them down... use present or future tense verbs! I caught myself using past tense when I was making the wall, like "What if I lost 25 pounds?" or "What if I went back to school?" I immediately stopped and changed the ones that were past tense. So it reads "What if I go back to school?"
Many of the "What ifs" others posted in Don Miller's blog comments were the same way.  Remember, these are things you should be doing and past tense makes them feel like things you should have done. Again, no regrets here.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on what happens when these "What ifs" hopefully become "What happeneds!"  Be sure to leave me a comment if this is something you'd like to try. I'll be glad to help anyone out. Good luck to you all, and here's to better stories!