Sunday, August 03, 2014
August Happiness Challenge -- Day 3
People can surprise you
I had lunch today with Joanna, one of the women I met through my classic film Meetup. She's so bright and accomplished that I'm surprised she requested my help. But she did. She wants me to help her develop the marketing materials she needs to get her new consultancy business off the ground.
I'll fiddle with what she gave me, and I'll look at the additional information she's promised to send along, and I'll give it some organization and direction. Then I'm confident she'll take it from there. I mean, she's sooooo smart and so versatile, able to bounce conversationally from business building to economics to marketing! She can do this on her own! I think she's just stuck.
I promised her we would be able to come up with a flexible, durable positioning statement for her new business and she seemed so relieved. Since I'm doing it for free, she's promised to be buy me lunches "forever." She said she thanks "the universe" for bringing her what she needed ... meaning me, who she encountered most unexpectedly while watching old movies.
I'm happy to help her. I mean, this is, after all, what I do. And getting out and meeting her downtown was good for me -- otherwise I would have just stayed on the sofa, nursing this cold.
But it was a little rattling to see someone who is usually so together, who has so much going for her, appear so vulnerable and unsure. I am forever surprised by how different a person's life can look from the outside from the way it feels on the inside.
I'll fiddle with what she gave me, and I'll look at the additional information she's promised to send along, and I'll give it some organization and direction. Then I'm confident she'll take it from there. I mean, she's sooooo smart and so versatile, able to bounce conversationally from business building to economics to marketing! She can do this on her own! I think she's just stuck.
I promised her we would be able to come up with a flexible, durable positioning statement for her new business and she seemed so relieved. Since I'm doing it for free, she's promised to be buy me lunches "forever." She said she thanks "the universe" for bringing her what she needed ... meaning me, who she encountered most unexpectedly while watching old movies.
I'm happy to help her. I mean, this is, after all, what I do. And getting out and meeting her downtown was good for me -- otherwise I would have just stayed on the sofa, nursing this cold.
But it was a little rattling to see someone who is usually so together, who has so much going for her, appear so vulnerable and unsure. I am forever surprised by how different a person's life can look from the outside from the way it feels on the inside.
Sunday Stealing
Fun Fifteen
1. You have been awarded the time off from work and an all-expenses
paid week anywhere in the United States. The catch is that it must be
somewhere you have not been before. Where do you choose to visit? This is a great question! I landed on the Lake Austin Spa. I've been to Texas, but only Dallas, never Austin. Since someone else is paying, I could stay in my own little cabin with my own personal whirlpool. I'd walk the gardens and bike the hills and spend hours upon hours in the spa.
2. Name your guilty pleasures. Right now my guiltiest pleasure is doing nothing. I'm battling a cold and have literally done nothing today. And I'm good with that.
3. The best kind of milkshake is: Chocolate
4. What do you value most in other people? A good sense of humor
5. Be honest. Do you sneak some raw cookie dough when you’re baking cookies? Yes
6. Have you ever looked back at your life and realized that something you thought was a bad thing was actually a blessing in disguise? A very bad romantic breakup turned out to be a very good thing. I shudder to think of what my life would be like if I'd stayed with him.
7. What is the most beautiful place you have ever visited? Washington DC at night took my breath away.
8. Are you more of a thinker or a feeler? Feeler
9. Name three things you are thankful for right now. 1) That I got everything I needed to do done on Friday so I could spend Saturday recuperating from this cold; 2) That I'm independent and am free to baby myself like this when I have a cold; 3) The internet and cable keep me in touch with the world without my moving my cold-plagued ass from this sofa.
10. Have you ever participated in a three-legged race? When I was in Girl Scouts, about 200 years ago
11. When you are at an event that plays the National Anthem, do you place your hand over your heart? Yes
12. Have you ever been on the wrong side of the law? No
13. When was the last time you unintentionally surprised someone else? At the reception area at work. The doors are heavily frosted and I opened it just as someone on the other side was reaching for it. Yeah, I know it's boring, but it's true.
14. When was the last time you deliberately surprised someone else? Nothing comes to mind. Sorry.
15. What was the last really funny movie you watched? I watched Meatballs twice last week when I was hanging around, waiting for the Cute Handyman to install the new lighting and medicine chest in my bathroom.
2. Name your guilty pleasures. Right now my guiltiest pleasure is doing nothing. I'm battling a cold and have literally done nothing today. And I'm good with that.
3. The best kind of milkshake is: Chocolate
4. What do you value most in other people? A good sense of humor
5. Be honest. Do you sneak some raw cookie dough when you’re baking cookies? Yes
6. Have you ever looked back at your life and realized that something you thought was a bad thing was actually a blessing in disguise? A very bad romantic breakup turned out to be a very good thing. I shudder to think of what my life would be like if I'd stayed with him.
8. Are you more of a thinker or a feeler? Feeler
9. Name three things you are thankful for right now. 1) That I got everything I needed to do done on Friday so I could spend Saturday recuperating from this cold; 2) That I'm independent and am free to baby myself like this when I have a cold; 3) The internet and cable keep me in touch with the world without my moving my cold-plagued ass from this sofa.
10. Have you ever participated in a three-legged race? When I was in Girl Scouts, about 200 years ago
11. When you are at an event that plays the National Anthem, do you place your hand over your heart? Yes
12. Have you ever been on the wrong side of the law? No
13. When was the last time you unintentionally surprised someone else? At the reception area at work. The doors are heavily frosted and I opened it just as someone on the other side was reaching for it. Yeah, I know it's boring, but it's true.
14. When was the last time you deliberately surprised someone else? Nothing comes to mind. Sorry.
15. What was the last really funny movie you watched? I watched Meatballs twice last week when I was hanging around, waiting for the Cute Handyman to install the new lighting and medicine chest in my bathroom.