Hi, Alan:)

Great story and a very interesting post about the value of stories ...

Something you said struck me:  "This is a true story ... ".

I remember telling a story about my values were shaped by a youthful shop-lifting event.  In the story, I owned up to my misdeed and was rewarded for doing so.  I told that story in from of my mother once ... and was disturbed to hear her dispute my version of my own memory.

We know that people do not remember facts, but rather recall impressions, leaving out or changing some details, emphasizing others.  As someone has probably said, "There's no such thing as a completely true memory."  This makes me wonder about the relative value of "true" stories versus fictional stories.

The Internet abounds with motivating and inspiring stories ... which upon inspection, are found to be apochryphal.   I once spent a good amount of money for a motivational video built around a truly wonderful story about the serendipity of life, which turned out to be untrue, after some research.

Some folks undoubtedly use stories they know not to be true to inspire and motivate, while others may think their memory of the story is more accurate than it actually is.

My question here is:  Does it matter?

What are your thoughts around using stories that may or may not be true to motivate and influence others.   The emotions that an inspiring story creates are as real as any other emotions, but I wonder about the underlying integrity if the story which produces the emotions is not true.

Eagerly awaiting your observations about this.   Thanks for sparking my thinking this morning.

John