When Good Fortune Arrives

“This is just like a movie!” - Teresa

When Good Fortune Arrives

The air was chilly and seemed to help the excitement gel into place.  Teresa and I walked toward our cars with grins embraced by the slight confusion on our faces.

“What just happened?” Teresa said to me as she glanced my way.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before!”  I countered.  “He just said he would help catapult your business forward by giving you his current business if you decided to purchase his building!”

“This is just like a movie! Why would he do that?” She said quizzically.

From the first time we met Charley there was a connection.  Charley is an artisan, one of the best I’ve ever met.  As Teresa and I worked with him during our first meeting I could see that the two of them were “of a kind.”

Teresa’s business is newer and growing.  Charley’s business is mature and flowing smoothly.  He’s ready to retire.  She’s ready to blastoff and make her mark on the world.  I watched them communicate and appreciate all at the same time.

One of the most important things Charley communicated to us was that his life has changed.  His wife recently had some health issues.  They’ve spent their years together building their business without a thought of how the time they share could come to an abrupt end.  Now, that revelation has been opened to them.  They’ve decided to do something about it.  They are retiring so they can spend as much time together as possible.  And, they want to do something more.

Charley also wants his experience and efforts to continue on.  That’s why he wants to pass it all to Teresa.  Another common friend said, “He’s been looking for the right person to give it to and he knows Teresa is that person!”

I looked over at that same Teresa.  She was chilled.  It was the night air.  And, it was also the thrill of being given an unspeakable gift, an unanticipated surprise.  I watched it consume her.  I felt it enrich my understanding of good fortune.

There are different kinds of good fortune.  One is certainly the good fortune of receiving.  Another is the giving of good fortune to another.  And finally, there is the perpetuation of good fortune. 

The perpetuation of good fortune is something we can all participate in by following Charley’s example. Perhaps Charley conveyed this to me best when he said, “I designed these earrings with simple beauty and superb craftsmanship.  You can’t get them anywhere else!  They’re my design.”

You’ve spent a lifetime designing the good fortune that is uniquely yours.  When good fortune arrives, make it even larger.  Share it with others.