Some years ago there was a television program where the host would highlight some significant events from someone’s life. They might interview family and friends, talk about his/her achievements, and finally introduce the person and often bring some special person that he or she hadn’t seen in years and years. And as a final touch, the host would hand the guest a book and say, “This is your life!” It was always touching and made me think about my own life and what achievements I would be remembered for long after I’m gone.

But then, who am I? I’m not famous. I don’t do anything that gets me in the public eye. I have some friends and a family. I guess you could say I am an average person. People don’t turn and look at me when I walk down the street. I’m not special, am I? Do I deserve to have a book about my life handed to me?

But maybe it is this idea that I am a nobody, so to speak, that stopped me for many years from taking my life seriously. I mean, if you don’t really think you are special; if you don’t really think your thoughts, words, and deeds count, then you won’t pay much attention to them, will you? I don’t want to make that mistake.

When I was in high school, I had an English teacher who told me something important: “If you are going to make a mistake, make a big one!” Now I know this statement could be misunderstood and taken as a license to go out and wreak havoc in the world, but I understood her to mean that I shouldn’t be afraid to try and perhaps fail. That lesson stuck in my mind, and so now, because I still remember her words, I am trying to break out of my sense of my own unimportance.

I am writing a book. It is a book about my life. You might think I am writing my autobiography, but I am not capable of that. You might think that maybe someone else is writing my biography, but it is different than that. Perhaps it is hard to comprehend, but just imagine you are recording your voice onto a cassette and then you play it back. It always sounds strange and you wonder to yourself “Do I really sound like that?” If your friends are around they will tell you that yes, you do sound like that. Then you are left thinking, “I hardly even recognize the sound of my own voice!” Then if you see yourself on a video camera you will probably think “Is that how I look?” If you keep these things in mind, I think you will understand what I am trying to say.

With every word I speak, another thing is written in my book. With every action, another thing is added to my book. It is being written by those who follow me everywhere I go in my life. They listen to my words, and I’ll hear all those words later just like hearing a recording of my voice. They watch what I do, the decisions I make, the way I deal with people, how hard I try—and it is all recorded. So that means that there is nothing in my life that is unimportant. The people in this world might not give my intentions, my words, my thoughts, or my actions a second thought, but those who follow me in my life are listening and watching intently to the path of my life: the words I send out and the actions I do. My book!

I haven’t seen this book yet and I wonder what it will look like. But all the same, I know that I have a book and it is the book of my life. I am the central figure in this book. It will mention my family, friends, and those I affected throughout my life, but they will all be mentioned in the context of me! My word and my actions!

Now you may well ask, who is it that is following me around in my life and taking careful note of all my words and actions? Since the time I was born, Allah the Almighty assigned special angels just for me. They stay with me, and one records the good deeds I do and the other records the evil deeds. It is what is written in their records that makes up my book. They do not lie, they do not exaggerate, they always hope I will repent whenever I make a mistake, and they rejoice with me when I am successful and good. I am the one dictating what they record. I’m not dictating it by words in the form of a command, but I simply live my life—speak and act—and it is all there waiting for the day when I will receive this book.

Until that day, I do not know whether I’ll be happy to see it or not. Allah tells us that if we are good we will receive our book in our right hand; however, if we are evil we will receive our book in our left hand. Those angels are with me now recording the fact that I am writing this article for you to read. And you also have two angels who are following you in your life and they are busy recording the fact that you are reading this article.

You and I may never meet in this life, but when we are handed our books, my name will be written in yours and yours will be written in mine simply because our paths crossed and we affected each other. So it is up to us how we want our book to look. We are free! We can choose to let good things be written in it, but if sometimes we do evil, we can wipe that record out of our book by turning to Allah the Almighty and repenting to Him. So if you receive your book in your left hand after knowing all this, you only have yourself to blame.