Offline To Online, In A Day (Joe's Story)
Today is a story day. It comes to you in two parts, with Part 2 available tomorrow for all. No lockdown of a post involved. Even though this is a JOYful share.
See, I am changing things up on this site, as you may have noticed from my new home page, new offers and the opening of a new store…
If you missed it, check out my home page here. Don’t worry, it will open in a new window.
Now this post is all about my new favorite word. Alignment. Or it will be after you dive into Part 2.
But if you missed it, you may wish to read two other posts either first or next, because they all relate.
The first is I Am Aligned.
The second is actually something I wrote as I was inspired by Joe, a non-fictional character who may just inspire you, as he has me.
See he’s taken the current global climate and used it as motivation to grow, evolve and shift his way of impacting in this new world many simply find themselves existing in.
I don’t want to spoil the telling of the tale...
So, dive into Joe’s story here and now.
Joe’s Side Of The Coin…
Joe knew he screwed up as soon as his last flight was cancelled and the lockdown took effect.
His travel suitcase was packed and at the ready by the front door.
His button-down pressed for success hanging with his suit and green tie. He loved green. Always had.
And he had already been making plans on how to best serve those 50 new clients. The ones he simply knew he’d close on Friday, as three-quarters of the room was his norm.
He was that good.
Powerful, impactful. His message was clear. His intention, solely to be of service because he knew from his nearly 60 years on this earth, that he was taken care of when he did just that.
Serve. With heart.
Another reason he was asked to speak on the stages at other people’s events.
But on this day, as he took a seat on the sofa overlooking the high-rises, thinking of the lake house he’d just put a downpayment on, he knew something was off.
He felt it in his bones.
No connecting.
No touching.
No flying.
Wild.
Next step, lockdown.
And that came a few days later, as he sat with his wife over morning coffee, wondering about his next steps.
A forced holiday.
A pause.
Lean in.
He knew better than to fight what he could not win. Why waste the energy?
Yet, still a moment of dis-ease tickled his spine and as he smiled at his wife who chewed the cap of his pen - he knew by the color green it was his - and he had to smile.
She wasn’t fretting.
She wasn’t worried.
She wasn’t stressed out…
Like so many wives of so many of his friends.
He chose to let go of the thought he’d screwed up by not having a back-up plan to all the travel and speaking he did throughout the year.
This life had always worked for him — for them.
And he shook off the sudden doubt that he’d somehow chosen wrong.
They had a nest-egg and, an almost-theirs, lake house retreat. A ten-year dream in the making and nearly their reality.
The condo was spacious and even had a private patio. Fresh veggies were in the fridge and plenty of books he’d yet to enjoy on his must-read shelf.
He refused digital reading for his guilty pleasure — sci-fi novels. Just as he knew one day he’d write one.
Maybe now, as the story had been stewing, brewing within him for a decade.
Hmm, he mused as he watched his wife have a lightbulb moment and scribble down her crossword puzzle answer, what better time than now.
He picked up his phone to scroll contacts when his wife tsked him without raising her eyes from the folded newsprint.
She was a puzzle junkie and couldn’t put it down till it was done. And at 50, she was still his precious high school sweetheart.
And he’d almost broken the rule… no tech, ever, during coffee time.
He smiled and placed his phone just out of reach, upside down, as was their way. And watched the dimple appear in her right check, the one he could see.
Gosh, she was so beautiful…
Complete with laugh lines he’d been privileged to watch appear and grace that porcelain skin, over shared giggles and stolen moments.
He’d contact Teddy, his college roommate and friend, now a pro athlete, later. After coffee time.
When he could focus and ask him about that writer, a woman, whom he’d said, wrote his last two, or was it three, books with him.
Dang, hadn’t he done half of Teddy’s literature paper for him in college? The only one he’d received an A on the entire semester!
Shaking his head, Joe took the final sip of his coffee and pushed the thought away for now.
There was plenty of time to contact that writer to see if she offered book coaching...or could help him get started.
What better time than now.
Locked down and locked in with the love of his life.
“Another cup, Missy?”
She looked up and cocked one eyebrow at him, her brilliant green-grey eyes twinkling just as he knew they would. “Like you have to ask, handsome.”
He pressed a kiss to the top of her head upon standing and taking both cups in hand walked to the elegant kitchen, that was totally his domain, and the nifty machine his wife had insisted they buy that made coffee via pods.
Hmm, pods. Definitely time to write that book, he thought with a chuckle.
Joe’s a character and I know you’ll fall in love with him as much as I have since we started working together.
Well, again, don’t want to spoil the story, so stay tuned for Part 2.
But before you go, if you liked this story-time share, give it a 💜 and leave a comment below.
Enough comments and I’ll share more of these tales.
Photo Credit: Oleg Kukharuk @olegkukharuk