Inciting Incidents
It was back in March of last year that I heard Don Miller speak at Sunset’s Men’s Retreat. He spoke on much of what is found in his latest book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. And with the popularity of the book, the importance of story in our lives has become a common conversation piece in the church.
And it was also back in March that I decided I needed an inciting incident in my story. An inciting incident is basically where you, the main character of the story, put something in your story that involves conflict and opposition in order to make a more interesting story. Back then I decided that the Ride:Well Tour was the answer for me. But then I started a new job in December and decided it wasn’t the right timing.
So in December I decided I should start running longer distances. And running became a new love of mine. Between my various roles at the church, helping with The Mentoring Project, and school, running was a bit of an escape from real life. I then set a personal goal of doing a half marathon in either June or July. About a month ago I was up to consistently running between 6 and 8 miles, and then it happened. Yep…tendinitis in my left knee. There are a lot of reasons I got it, but mostly because my neighborhood is so hilly (my runs would start with a 700 foot elevation climb).
I find myself now running around a track, usually for short distances (until the pain sets in) and spending more time stretching and muscle building, trying to work through the tendinitis in order to hit my goal of doing a half marathon on June 12th. Running around a track is one of the most boring things in the world. But it does help my knees so I’m forced to for now.
I’ve been forced to learn patience and also realize that my body isn’t indestructible like it was when I was 18.
I guess the weird thing about inciting incidents is they don’t always produce the story change you expected.
Tyler Braun.
