How many times have we planned and implemented something that is near and dear to our heart?  We begin the process with great joy & excitment, hoping that the process won’t take long.

And often it doesn’t take long to incite the excitement and commitment of others as we roll toward the goal.  They join us with an equal fervor & desire to move the process along at ‘warp’ speed.

Then the stone wall appears!  It looms ahead of us and we can see if from afar.  We know it’s there and we realize that we are approaching it with all cylinders firing.

What do we do now?  I’ve found the question really is “where do we go from here?”  In fact, that’s most likely the “fine print” etched on the wall ahead.

It’s tough to anticipate all the pieces that go into any project we launch.  It’s hard to see every nook & cranny that will need to be filled with significant ’stuff’ if the goals are to be met and our desires fulfilled - as well as those who’ve joined us in the process.

Over the years, I’ve come to recognize that the “stone walls” are not there to stop us; but to slow us down long enough to work the process as it needs to be worked!  I learned it the hard way.

I was at an event and was the featured speaker to present a new project that my employer was launching.  We had spend months designing, testing, redesigning and finally we were ready.  My speaking engagement was to take the project public for the first time. 

Words were flowing from my lips with great clarity; heads were nodding affirmatively and smiles covered every face.  I could see mental lights going on across the room and was delighted that I was achieving what we hoped for.

Then - bam!  Out of the blue came the question.  It was such a simple one at that, but it stopped me in my tracks.  I must have looked like a ‘deer in the headlights’.

I was stumped!  I didn’t have an answer for the person who asked the question.  Thoughts raced across my brain as I mentally sorted how to respond in a way that would not give away our secret.  The “Gee whiz, we never thought about that”, secret.

After what seemed like eons of time, I simply said, with a wry grin - “Gee, we never thought about that!”

The room erupted with laughter; the person who asked was slightly embarrassed & I sat there twiddling my thumbs as if the magic answer was somehow in that process.

God is so good to me at times, that I can hardly believe it.  The room was filled with awesome talent and considerable brainpower, so I gave them a task.  Divided them into small groups; presented the “stone wall” that had been asked and told them to come back in 20 minutes with the answer.

They had a ball following through with the task.  Not one answer, but about 30 awesome answers.  When I completed my talk and returned to the corporate office, my wonderful supervisor was stunned with what had happened and at how quickly I recovered from what could have been a very embarrassing event.

I don’t remember the specifics - just the outcome.  It taught me a valuable lesson about “stone walls” that pop up on the journey from vision to reality! 

The “where do we go from here” is better left as a question posed to a team of enthused, excited folks who want a piece of the action and are willing to bring their expertise and creativity to the process.

So the wisdom for today is to step back from the angst of knowing that a ’stone wall’ may loom ahead and find those ‘partners’ (to use our AWP-AWI word - mentors) who will help us discover “where do we go from here?”

BTW - the evaluations I got from that speaking event were off the wall positive.  In fact, some folks thought the whole piece had been “staged”. 

Well I’ll never tell! 

Have an awesome Monday with great love, considerable blessings and no ’stone walls’ to be seen anywhere!

Linda