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Life as a TV Dinner

A few weeks ago my youngest and I talked about talents and destiny. We talked about things she’s finding out in life, surprises like discovering she has a real talent for piano. More than a talent—a gift. The discussion came about because of something she felt she had no talent in: history. She has a love hate relationship with the stuff. She loves reading about people and what they’ve done to make the world a better place. She has no regard for those who leave their mark of hatred on humankind, and she doesn’t like trying to commit the details of wars and politics to memory in preparation for tests.

All that got us around to talking about the question of whether or not people come prepackaged with everything they need to succeed in life, to be the best they can be. We decided they do. They just need to chose whether or not to use it. We got silly and concocted a simple analogy: being human is like being a TV dinner.

Remember she’s not yet into her teen years and I often think in the same age range.

A TV dinner comes with a main course, vegetable and dessert. All you need to do is pop it into the microwave and it’s ready: a full meal.

Yeah, I know. Some TV dinners can’t be considered a real meal, let alone a full meal, and the things might get undercooked or overcooked. Overanalyzation aside we decided that you can draw a parallel with life.

Remember I said it was a simple analogy.

Simple being the keyword.

We come packaged with the stuff to make us complete but if we don’t give ourselves a chance, believe in ourselves, we’ll never reach our destiny. We'll never undergo a metamorphosis that will take us from who we are or were, or believe we are or were, to who can become; take ourselves from a frozen state to one of being functional where we can utilize all we’ve been given.

How does that apply to writing? What do you believe are the important factors in helping your characters discover the best in themselves? Then how do you bring it into play in their everyday lives?