The Direction of Intention

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Join me in inspiring truly powerful people. Each day I will add a new thought, story or idea to support your quest and mine.

Two old guys wearing suit coats and ties went to a coffee house to meet with a web designer (doesn’t this sound like the beginning of a joke!). The designer was a few years shy of 30 years old and he showed up to the meeting in his uniform: sweat pants and a hoodie. Two different eras and ideas of business collide! A microcosm of the old world meeting the new plays to the sound of steam, lattes and the smell of espresso. They stood gaping at each other wondering whether they should sit and talk or run for the exit.

They sit. The young web designer was studied in his ease, feigning confidence as he slumped to mask his what-the-hell-am-I doing-here panic. His grey haired clients looked knowingly at each other out of the corners of their eyes, silently carrying on a conversation they started before they walked in the door; “I told you so,” one look betrayed. “We’re wasting our time,” the other silently responded. They were out of their comfort zone, out of their culture, and wondering what happened to the time when an elder guided the youth through the complexities of the world, not the other way around.

And then, a beautiful thing happened, something that always happens when people look beyond their judgments and expectations and say what they really feel. The young designer sat up and through some divine inspiration said, “You have to help me know how to help you?”

The old guys, eyes popping, stuttered and said, “We don’t even know where to begin.”

“Thank goodness. Then we’re in the same boat with each other!” the young designer smiled. “How about if I ask you a few questions. Maybe you could teach me a bit about business and especially about your business. Let’s see if we can identify why you might need a website?” The old guys relaxed and replied, “The world passed us by and we’ve been a little intimidated.”

Common ground is a beautiful thing and so easy to establish when approached with open hands. Despite what we like to think,no one is powerful alone.

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