On our honeymoon more years ago than my bride would wish me to tell you, we drove down US A1A from Folly Beach to the Florida Keys.

We stayed as close to the Atlantic as we could. We stopped along the way to swim in the ocean and visit the Monkey Jungles and aging tourist traps along the way.

I was her hero. When she was a kid, her father would never stop at those places.

When we got to the St. Johns River, the only way across was on a small ferry,

It was late in the afternoon and dark by the time we reached the other shore. It was a romantic ferry ride. We held

It was a romantic ferry ride. We held hands and watched for manatees.

When we reached the keys, we put up a tent on solid coral at the Pennekamp State Park. That evening, while we were eating at a local restaurant, a squall came through and blew down our tent.

By our car’s headlights, I struggled to put the tent back up. I felt like a klutz. But to my bride, I was nothing less than heroic.

It is a fond memory for an old geezer. I share it for a simple reason: You have stories in your life you should share.

Writing coach Nancy Erickson says fear can deter us from sharing your stories.

You’re the only one who has your story.

You’re the only one who can write or tell it. You can be a messenger of hope and help. What if writing your book actually helps you heal yourself from life’s wounds?

HAVE YOU EVER thought you’d die because you were in so much emotional pain you couldn’t imagine how things could change?

Nancy knew that feeling well years before she became a non-fiction book coach.

She had been married for 22 years and was devastated when she discovered her husband had a hidden life that was incompatible with marriage. It was like everything she thought she knew about the world and how life worked turned out to be a lie.

She had been betrayed by the man she had been married to for over half her life.

She thought she might die from the pain.

BECAUSE HER circumstances were dark and personal, she felt she had no where to turn, no one to comfort her, no one who understood what she was going through. It wasn’t until she dared to share her whole story did she begin to recover.

Fear often holds many of us back.

My brief story of our honeymoon is easy to tell because it is romantic and I was fortunate to play the part of a hero.

Nancy’s story is difficult, Even telling it made her relive the pain.

Telling even painful stories and what they taught you has mental and physical benefits. By sharing, you may teach your children and others how to deal with pain.

DR. LISSA RANKIN, author of Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof You Can Heal Yourself, writes that: “Every time you tell your story, you turn off the body’s stress responses, flipping off toxic stress hormones and flipping healing hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, nitric oxide, and endorphins.

“This turns on the body’s innate self-repair mechanisms as preventative medicine.”

You’re the only one who has your story. Are you ready to share it? If you want, tell it to me at JerryBellune@yahoo.com

.Next: Share your secrets.