The Gossamer Curtain Up Close - Smith Meyer

On our vacation this summer, within a week, we were three times confronted with the fragility of life. Most notably, a man who had become a friend over the years, came to take my husband out for the day. He had become one of the welcome components of our visits to Alberta. The two men had started out the lane, but then returned to do one more thing. Within fifteen minutes, our friend died. We quickly called 911. In less than twenty minutes, the ambulance, rescue vehicle, fire truck and three police cars descended at our son's property, but their valiant efforts were in vain.

Questions raced through our minds. What if he had died before he came to spend the day with my husband? He would have died alone, his wife away for the day. What if he had died while driving--if he hadn't come back for that one more thing? That held bigger implications. We were poignantly reminded again--that which divides life here and the life beyond is but a gossamer curtain.

The week before, a couple not far advanced in years to our own, never arrived at their destination on the west coast. Their travel van was found burned out, but they still haven't been found. Two days after the death of our friend, we were also on our way from Alberta to Vancouver. It seemed we had barely started when, at Golden, B.C., we were directed off the highway into parking lots for a two and a half hour wait. There had been a horrible accident up ahead. Two people lost their lives. The folks at the service station and Tim Horton's told us that the day before, in almost exactly the same place, three others had perished. Because of our close connection to one death already that week, we felt the present ones more keenly-they heightened our awareness of each moment of our days. The beauty we encountered driving through the mountains then, seemed even more breath-taking and exquisite; the time with family and friends in that week doubly precious.

Often unexpected experiences or a crisis will initiate changes in our lives. Just recently I realized that my life stages and significant learning times can often be connected to a book I read. Those readings often coincide with what is going on in my life as well.

In light of my summer, You COULD Live a Long Time: Are You Ready? by Lyndsay Green, a Canadian writer, came at the right time. Peter Mansbridge writes of the book, "We're not just living longer, but we're dying longer and that fact is the basis for Lyndsay Green's important new book. If you're betting you are going to be a part of the live-longer and live-better crowd, and let's be frank, we all want to be, then whether you're twenty, sixty or anywhere in between you better read this. It's full of advice, really good advice, that you'll be grateful you took when you hit those golden plus years."

I was barely into the book when I realized it was going to change my life. Aunt Jean's proactive ways and enthusiasm for life had me hooked in the introduction and kept me in her grasp right through to the end! Having worked with seniors (or elders as Green calls that age group) I have seen the difference between those who stay active and those who don't--physically, mentally and emotionally. I have seen the disparity in those who take charge of their own affairs as they age, planning ahead for the necessary changes, and those who fight the changes only to have their family step in to make decisions when they are obviously needed.

There's quite a wave of people on the verge of the elder years, getting closer to that gossamer curtain. We would be wise to make plans for ourselves and prepare not only our homes and finances, but our emotions, attitudes and relationship with God, so we can indeed live well in our dying years. (Read the book and that statement will excite you instead of making you feel gloom.) Good books help--and this is one!

www.ruthsmithmeyer

Me? Write a Business Plan?

On January 1, 2004 I created my company’s first business plan. Words of Worth, my writing and editing business, had just been re-launched after our move from Saskatchewan to British Columbia, work prospects were scarce and capital funds even scarcer. The idea of a full-blown business plan, complete with budget and marketing strategy, seemed more laughable than plausible.

Like many writers who have a Christian worldview, my first articles were published in church bulletins, local newspapers and Christian publications. I loved those opportunities and found new doors opening on a regular basis. But when our circumstances changed and I had to become a major contributor to our household budget, I was forced to target other markets. In 2000, I started working with a US company, researching and writing background material for analysts and portfolio managers. Since I’d been living in Saskatchewan and covering agricultural and rural events, my new responsibilities included keeping abreast of the latest developments in agriculture and technology. I enjoyed the work. Life was getting comfortable again.

But my husband and I both had health concerns, and our children had been lobbying us to move closer to them. So, in late 2003, we relocated to an isolated area on the West Coast of British Columbia. The move itself was fine but at the same time, the company I’d been working for went through a major restructuring and I was one of the casualties.

I really needed to find new clients, but how was I supposed to convince total strangers in a small, insular community that they needed my writing and editing services? There were many reports being done by various levels of government but it seemed that technical and qualitative reports could only be done by experts living at least one ferry ride away.

Shortly after we moved, I jumped at the chance to attend a free series put on by our local Regional Economic Development Society. The course was great, but when our instructor, a retired CEO of a global investment company, challenged each of the budding entrepreneurs in his class to create a business plan, I admit I questioned his judgment, at least for me.

From the day I first launched my company, I’d always treated my work as a highly professional venture. I don’t write in my pjs, I keep regular office hours, and I am willing to spend money for top-quality advertising material. But writing a business plan seemed a little “over the top” for my struggling venture.

But, comply I did, and since then I’ve grown in confidence, achieved successes, and received blessings I could not have imagined. While reviewing my 2006 goals this week I realized, much to my astonishment, that I’d met and exceeded all the seemingly unreachable objectives I jotted down on January 1 last year. Among other things, they included:

• Mentoring another writer who is now employed full time with the local newspaper. I also introduced her to the editor of two other publications and she contributes regularly to their monthly magazines.
• Hiring four subcontractors to help with my increasing work load
• Being nominated for 3 Chamber of Commerce business awards
• Doubling my giving to the work of the Lord (my long-term goal is to be able to give $1,000 per month to missions)

This week I’ll work on next year’s goals, and I’ll probably be a bit more ambitious since I’ve learned a whole lot, though mostly the hard way. I’ve gained confidence as a business woman but more important, I’m learning to experience the power of total dependence on the Lord. He has opened doors, sent key people across my paths, taught me that honoring Him always pays (though not always in money), and strengthened me when I ran out of steam and inspiration.

How about you? Got your business plan up to date?