Have you seen the movie It’s a Wonderful Life? If not, stop reading right now. Go straight to Netflix or Hulu or Amazon Prime or your favorite Tivo/DVR system and hit “Search.” Get to know George Bailey et al, and then come back. We’ll wait for you.

It is aptly named, don’t you think? Truly wonderful, as in filled-with-wonder. Here is the part I like best: This movie started out as a Christmas card.

It was a short story Philip Van Doren Stern wrote and couldn’t get published. Since BookBaby hadn’t been invented yet, he turned it into a Christmas card and sent it out to 200 of his friends and family in December of 1943. You can fill in the blanks for the rest of the story. Or, you can Google it if you want to read the entire history.

My point is this: You never know where your writing will lead. So take care what you say in that annual letter summarizing the highs and lows of the previous year. (And be sure to send me one. I LOVE Christmas letters.)

And, don’t despair if your writing (or your life) isn’t going where you want it to go just yet. If you are faithful in the little things, you might see your work on the silver screen someday. Or, you might discover that no man is a failure who has friends.

Either way, it really is a wonderful life.