The Direction of Intention

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I am 12 years old and I am watching my grandfather slowly take apart a lawn mower. He is methodically removing pieces and lining the pieces on a towel according to the order of removal. His garage is a wonderland of tools and workbenches. His business is sewing machine repair and he seems to know how to do everything.

He asks me what I’m doing and I tell him I’m watching because I don’t have the slightest idea how to fix a lawn mower. He laughs and tells me that he doesn’t know how to do it either. I’m confused because he looks like he knows what he is doing. I tell him that and he laughs again. He sets down his screwdriver and asks me to sit next to him.

He tells stories about his first car. When he bought it there were very few service stations in the world. “If your car broke down you had to fix it,” he says. “No one knew how to fix a car and everyone had to do their own fixing. So, you figured it out.” He told me that’s what he was doing with the lawn mower – he was figuring it out. “But, here’s the key,” he said, “you can’t be in a hurry. If you give yourself time, you can figure anything out. It’s trying to do it fast that makes people believe they can’t do things.”

Forty years later I’m setting up a new website, new databases, ecommerce, for a new business and my grandfather has been with me in spirit all week. “Go slow,” I say to myself. “Give yourself time and you can figure anything out.” It is good advice for lawnmowers, new technology, and becoming power-full. It’s trying to do it fast that makes people believe they can’t do things.

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