Today I got to catch up with an old friend from my childhood. We re-connected on Facebook a few years back (I think...time flies), but this was the first time in years that we were able to sit down face-to-face. It is funny how some people simply don't age. She is one of those people. I felt transported in time, back to my youth, today when I first saw her through the glass. We laughed about our graying hair and the fun in just letting it go. When she said, "Who has time to color it?"....I laughed (and exhaled). Kinship. :)
She has this full life, and it was wonderful and bittersweet to hear about it all. Wonderful because I am so proud of (and for) her, and bittersweet as it took me back to places I keep on shelves (only pulling down from time-to-time). Bittersweet because she is someone I wish I could spend more time with...I believe we would have been closer friends if we had stayed in the same town (we seemed to have kept missing each other).
On the long drive home, in between numerous work calls that kept getting disconnected due to spotty cell service on Hwy 7 (it will stay scenic because you have no options other than to take in the beautiful scenery :)), I kept thinking about our conversations. We had not had long, over coffee and a sunny outdoor table, to catch up on 25 years. I wondered about time and the roads we choose. The roads that choose us. The roads that chose us.
It made me pause...
For the first time ever, I stopped at this scenic overlook on Hwy 7. I have passed by that one no less than a hundred times in my adult life, but I have never made the time to stop. Rushing to or from meetings...no time. Today, I made time.
As soon as I got out of the car, I felt out of place with a few tourists milling about, and me walking around...heels clicking on the rock path. I took some quick photos, watched others enjoying the views, tweeted what I thought was an amazing shot, and was back on the road...all in a manner of a few minutes. A moment to stop...and breathe.
The funny thing about this picture is that I got out of the car to shoot the mountains (and I did), but it was this shot of the sun shining through the clouds that spoke the most to me. Hmmmm....
Years ago I had a wonderful businessman who gave me some words of advice that I have not only tried to always follow, but I have shared with those I have mentored over the years. He said to me, "Never run away from a job (opportunity), always run to one." I never forgot his words, and I have always worked really hard to give my best, endeavor to persevere when the times got rough, never run away, and always wait for an opportunity to present itself (making sure even then that I would not simply running away from something I didn't want to deal with, but running towards something better). I have found that this also works in life...until now.
I spent all day Thursday with budding (student) entrepreneurs. They think I taught them something. I realize now that I was the one that learned something...an important something I had forgotten...
Entrepreneurs can't wait...they must create their own opportunities. They must give themselves wings and make their own path. If they wait for the opportunity to present itself, their chance will be lost. Lost.
I can't wait either. If I want the opportunity(ies). If I want to change my stripes. I have to be bold. Just as I coach my people to be...Every. Day.
Miss JST, thank you. You had no way of knowing it, but our conversation over coffee on this beautiful afternoon was just what I needed...from you. You inspired me. You reminded me. You helped me to breathe (if even for a moment at the top of that mountain).
My challenge to anyone reading this on this beautiful Friday evening...take the time to breathe this weekend. Go have that cup of coffee with a long lost friend. Talk without agendas, to do lists, judgement, and simply share of yourself...fears and all. Listen without judgement or preconceived notions. Get lost in a little "girl" or "boy" time.
Allow yourself to remember the road that led you to who you are now while considering the bridge you may need to get you to who you want to be. All I am saying is...sometimes the road less traveled...well, it may need you to build your own bridge. :)
"Above all, be true to yourself, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it."
Hardy D. Jackson
Sunshine Dreams to You ~ Today and Every Day! :)
