Tell Yourself a Better Story
When I was 14yrs old, I met a man who's mark on my life will never fade.
At just 21, Weston Lord had already been through hell and back multiple times. He was wise beyond his years in a way that only someone with the life experience he had possibly could be.
Yesterday, we as a community received the news that at the age of 27, Weston Lord passed on to the next world.
Wes had an ability to see beneath the layers of everyone he met, and speak directly to their soul. He never failed to connect with even the toughest of people.
In one of the last conversations I had with him, we spoke about wasted potential.
Well, I feel like it is my duty to not allow the lessons that I learned from Wes to pass on with him.
Here are 3 lessons I learned from Weston that Changed My Outlook on Life:
When I was 16, I had a pretty bad substance abuse problem. I found out on November 30th that I would be sent to wilderness therapy.
After some research on reddit, and a thorough freak out. I decided to do the only logical thing I could think of: I sent Weston 20+ messages outlining my fears and my plans to run away.
At the time, Wes was dealing with forced isolation in COVID due to his compromised immune system. He could've very easily ripped into me for complaining as he had many times prior to this instance. Instead, with all of his pain, he saw me for what I was at the time... A scared kid.
Rather than berating me, Weston chose to say one sentence that forever changed my perception of the world:
Tell yourself a better story and that will be your perception.
Weston was a very big believer that perception is reality and we get to choose our own suffering or joy.
Wes embodied this lesson in his day to day.
Although I could not begin to imagine the agony he must have lived through daily, I never once saw him without a smile on his face.
2. You can't escape responsibility for your own life
When I was 17, I got the news that one of my friends from recovery died from suicide via overdose. This was one of my first close friends to pass and I was inconsolable.
Weston had a unique ability to connect with you how you needed to be connected with.
In stark contrast to my previously attached conversation with him, Wes new that what I needed was not comfort, it was authenticity.
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As I was complaining and ranting about wanting to self destruct my life, and how hurt I was, generally deflecting accountability, Wes hit me with an incredibly simple but profound line:
"You can't escape responsibility for your own life"
At the end of the day, when this thing is over, and you are alone, you will know that it has always just been You vs You.
No one is coming to save you, only you can accept responsibility for your own life.
It simply cannot be avoided.
Frankly, the older I get, the more true this advice becomes.
3. Just Keep Getting up as Many times as you can.
I feel like I can not do Wes's wisdom justice here so I will just give some context for this one:
This is the 4th to last interaction I had with Wes.
Put yourself in his shoes:
The beautiful thing about Wes is that he had fully mastered the ability to be present.
Whether he knew he was going to die or not simply had zero effect on his outlook, he was completely at peace.
No matter what happens, you have one job in this world.
Just keep getting up as many times as you can.
That's it.
And then it's over.
At the time of Weston's passing, he had inspired so many of us in a way that I am yet to see even close to replicated.
I know that if there is a heaven, he is there looking down and talking shit to me every time I even think about giving up.
If you did not have the pleasure of meeting him, I am truly sorry for your loss, and if you did , than all the more so.
You can't escape responsibility for your own life, so you might as well tell yourself a better story. Just keep getting up as many times as you can, and then it's over.