We were all born within the confines of our own culture, circumstances, and experiences. Before we were even born, our parents probably already had our entire lives planned out, what we would look like, where we would go to school, and who we would be etc. As children and young adults, we probably began to dream of breaking free from that plan our parents had scripted out for us. After all, everything about childhood calls us to believe in the impossible, to go on magical adventures, and to believe that we are in some way called to a life of something bigger than ourselves. As we grew, however, we probably lost the magic that allowed us to believe in those dreams as maturity and life itself proved to us that it was all nonsensical child’s play. We probably fell into the natural run-of-the-mill life that had already been plotted out for us. We went to school like everyone else, dressed like everyone else, talked like everyone else, believed like everyone else until finally we became just that: “like everyone else.” Seeing nothing special or great within, we conformed to a safe and rather boring life because, “hey, that’s life. That’s what everyone else does, and why would we possibly want to be anything different than everyone else?” In fact, through the course of our lives, we’ve most certainly heard some magical stories of success and victory in the lives of those “chosen few,” probably scoffing and saying to ourselves, “well, that’s lovely. I guess some people are just destined for greatness.” In a world where our lives revolve around social media, the bitterness grows with every “Selfie of me and my bf in Paris for our AHmazing business trip! #soblessed” etc. post. We are lost in a world trying to get by with the ordinary while playing our lives off as extraordinary to “that one guy who follows me in Germany.” It’s empty and it leaves us hopeless. Day-in and day-out, we live on a so-called movie set abiding by a script we feel enslaved to.

Some believe that fate, destiny, and God’s will are out of our hands. They’ll happen whether we want them to or not. So why should we do anything outside of the ordinary. We have no control over our lives, so we should just submit to whatever cards we are dealt in life.

It is not the script, however, that enslaves us to be someone we don’t want to be. It is our choice to live by some scripted version of ourselves that we didn’t even write.

God did not set up our lives like a set to a movie, and hand us a script of someone else’s adventure, and tell us exactly where to stand, what to say, how to act, and exactly what our part in the story would be. Instead, God did something so much better. He invited us to go on the adventure of a lifetime with Him and allow us to etch our stories into the pages of history.

The very nature of an adventure is that you don’t know how it’s going to play out. That is largely up to you and your choices. You don’t know the trials you’ll face, the experiences that will stretch you, the battles that will seemingly almost kill you, the relationships that will save you, and how all of it will change you. And it will change you. That’s what scares most people about being the hero in their own adventure. The fear of the sacrifice, uncertainty, and insecurity necessary in order to follow that burning desire off the map. You will not come out on the other side the same person. Are you willing to face a version of yourself that you’ve never been faced with before?

We have to believe that there is a cause that is so much bigger than ourselves, and know that it’s worth fighting for.

All we are called to do is lay down our script, drop the act, and take the first step on an adventure with a great God who already knows the end of the story. I pray that not a day goes by in my life that I’m so consumed with myself and what others think of me that I live within the confines of culture, circumstance, and expectations, and miss the invitation to truly live my life Offscript.

This blog is inspired by my personal decision to stop trying to live inside a bubble of perfection, and begin to explore, experience, and embrace every moment; to live everyday Offscript. And I sincerely hope that you’ll join me on this adventure to be the hero in your own story, and that in some small way you’ll allow me to be a part of that story, as you all are most certainly a large part of mine!

Let’s be adventurers!