We spent a busy and fruitful week in my beautiful Chicago with family, friends and, of course, we had several commitments. Do you realize that all of our moments become a story?

During the week that was, I experienced an array of emotions, each its own little story. I felt  utter fear while I waited in my surgeon’s office to hear the result of a routine CT scan, followed by utter love when I read the latest text from my granddaughter, then utter delight that more and more MOXIE darlings are signing up for bemoxienow.com, where different groups are forming. I had a loving telephone conversation with my daughter-in-law, and I felt joy when I tied a new red string around my mother’s left wrist and sad knowing I would be leaving for California the next day. When my mother and I part we never say good-bye, we say “so long.” Most importantly, I reveled in my alone time, in our condo in the sky with my ultimate concierge.

There are so many other memories from the past week of my life. I helped my young housekeeper solve a problem and I felt joy as I walked down Michigan Ave. to visit my girlfriend and hair stylist, Collette, who repairs the damage I do when I cut my hair with kitchen scissors when I am in Palm Springs!

I mention all this because we all experience many short vignettes every  day.

That is why I suggest keeping a journal. It will help you discover over time that your memories and the present are intertwined and are the “theater of your life.”

One of the most important emotional events  in the “theater of my life” took place recently, five years after I began writing my open and heartfelt stories, a journal of sorts, though I did not recognize the fact at that time. I had no idea when I began my writing journey that I was giving myself the gift of a lifetime — because it gives back to you, and I will explain the reason.

From childhood on, all of us have dusty books of memories stored in our minds. When you journal in the present, you are usually reminded of a memory, a story from your past that somehow connects with the here and now. Journaling brings back your past experiences, and win, lose or draw, it is part of the “theater of your life.”

After you have written for as many years as I have, the books of your memories will no longer be covered in dust and you will have a fifty-plus-year composite of who you are.

How wonderful is that! How many women really know who they are?

My stories, my memories have exposed the “theater of my life.” I own my script and am bursting with joy because I am content and secure in knowing the real Susan Honey Good. The coming years will be even more joyful.

There is nothing more fulfilling than motivating yourself to accomplish a purpose. To have an intention that you stick to come hell or high water even when the going gets tough — which I guarantee you it will — proves that you have the get-up-and-go to succeed, to triumph.

You can begin journaling by filling out the prompts in my new book, Stories for my Grandchild. You will tell your story, in your handwriting, from the day of your birth to the present. You will leave your priceless messages on the journal’s pages; your values and your dreams for your grandchildren; the story of how you met their grandfather and stories about school. This will be a treasured gift for your grands, a keepsake they will pass on to their children and their children will pass on to their grandchildren. You must promise yourself you will not sugarcoat your story because it is hard to grow up in today’s world, so don’t shy away from your imperfections. We all had them as we began — and continued — the journey of life. You have a voice. Share that voice with your grands while you’re sharing your thoughts with yourself. It is your script, your “theater of life.”