How meeting an IT Director changed my life
When I was 19, I had some time to waste before heading to a party with some friends and we found ourselves at a park called Rock City. It was a place where huge rocks were deposited by glaciers and we wanted to go wander. The only problem was that when we arrived, it was closed. And the 12-foot fence was standing between us and the rocks.
So, we did what kids do.
We jumped the fence.
I wasn’t one to break rules back then, but all three of my friends did—and I didn’t want to miss out. They seemed to have it all figured out.
The one thing none of us realized, though, was that the park was privately owned by a family who lived next door. Our laughter and silliness echoed off the rocks, and before we could make it back to the fence, a police car had arrived just for us.
Since I had never been in trouble before, I got community service hours to complete. The only problem was that I was starting a 4-year school in the fall, far away from where I had gotten in trouble. The judge told me I could do my community service at school as long as I made sure the paperwork was completed on time.
When I arrived at my new college, I knew I had to find a way to get my hours in, yet felt so much shame for doing something so dumb.
Until I met Marty...
Marty Hotaling, Keuka College’s IT director was a magical human who didn’t judge me. He made it so easy to tell him what happened, and after explaining that I’d been working on websites since I was 15, he offered to sign for my community service hours if I created a website for the college: one that would be created by the students that would be run by the students.
This little community service project led me to not only become the college’s webmaster, but also become an entrepreneur by building websites for local businesses. I started my first business, a web marketing company, and then went on to build a career in marketing and web design when the world was just going online.
This past weekend, I got a chance to reconnect with Marty after almost 20 years. He had been the equivalent of my big brother when I was in college. Not much older than me, he took me under his wing and supported me through some of life’s toughest challenges as a college student.
The other day, we fell right back into friendship after two decades of being out of touch. We caught up on so many years of ups and downs in just a few hours. It wasn’t. until we were sharing how we met that I realized I was blown away by how meeting him had changed the trajectory of my life.
If you’ve ever seen Sliding Doors starring Gwyneth Paltrow, you’d know that one day and one extra moment changed who she met, who she married, and how her life went. The sliding door of the subway train allowing her to get on versus keeping her from boarding showed two different timelines for her life.
I think of this all the time as I make decisions, as things happen, and as life shows up for me. How the sliding doors of life bring us what we need or keep us from what we don’t.
25 years ago, I could have allowed my shame to keep me quiet and volunteered at a local non-profit to get my community service hours in. Instead, I decided to share what had happened with someone who would become a pivotal character in my life.
And this brings me to today on this Tour.
When we decided to do these five weeks on the road, we didn’t know what to expect. Yet we’ve asked for guidance from God & the Universe, surrendering to whatever is meant to be. And it took putting ourselves in a position to see what is possible. We had to leave the comfort and stability of our everyday lives to see what could be.
Sure, being on the road these last three weeks hasn’t been the best for productivity, yet it’s been deeply connecting to people we would never have been able to spend quality time with. I’ve noticed that the connections are so much deeper than on Zoom (weird, I know…) and that learning about how other people live, work, and play by being in their private spaces has given us so many opportunities to change our own ways of moving in the world.
Life is a series of questions where we get the chance to say yes or no.
Our answers are never wrong because they will always lead us to whatever is meant for us.
You may look at what we’re doing and say “I could never do that” and my challenge in return would be to ask “Why not?”
You are just one decision away from a completely different life.
So, what’s something you can decide today that will give you the momentum you need to step into everything you desire?
We’re walking (and driving) alongside you.
xoxo
Melanie