Cliff Diving
June 7, 2008 | A Kick in the Butt, How to Change Your Life
We had a small incident at the store last week. Wakizashi’s been making quite a few sales through his work since the store opened. People looking for stainless steel water bottles (and a few other odds and ends) know he’s the man to get them from. At least once a week I get a call at the store asking me to bring home this or that so he can deliver it the next day.
Then a few weeks ago he got a major order. It turns out that his company sponsors a Dragon Boat team and the ladies in charge of the sponsorship wanted to buy a stainless steel bottle for each member of the team. It was an order for fifty stainless steel bottles. That’s a lot for a brand new boutique like us!
I called my supplier to make sure they had the order in stock (I can’t tell you how hard it is to get your hands on a stainless steel water bottle - the suppliers are selling out like crazy and stores just can’t keep them stocked). It turns out that they did! So I placed the order.
A week later when my order arrived, it appeared a little small. Five boxes too small. My fifty water bottles weren’t in it.
I called my supplier to find out what happened. The bottles were out of stock.
“But,” I objected, “they were in stock when I ordered them. I called to confirm that before I said I could fill the order.”
Well, it seems that my supplier doesn’t hold product until the order is ready to be shipped. So, while they were in stock when I ordered, they’d been shipped out with another order that got their delivery before we did. There was nothing left in stock, there was nothing they could do.
To say I was upset would be an understatement.
The store’s been holding it’s own, but the last few weeks have been slower than I anticipated they would be and I had been counting on that order to boost our sales (and my confidence).
Under Wakizashi’s direction I started hunting down alternatives. (I did mention earlier that all the suppliers for stainless steel bottles are having a shortage, didn’t I?) With some persistence (read: by being very annoying) I finally found someone who could get us fifty bottles, and just barely in time too! I got my hands on a sample and sent it into work with Wakizashi to get their approval.
They hated it.
Instead they wanted to know if we could get the big 40oz bottles - the ones we get from the same supplier that messed up the first order. The guys who were sold out.
I knew that my supplier had actually been out of 40oz bottles for a few weeks and had just gotten their refill order in that week, which meant there actually was a chance that they’d have some in stock. But fifty of them?
I called, they had them. (Insert happy dance here!) I ordered them and made sure to request they be put on hold for us immediately.
Two days later Wakizashi drove to the supplier’s warehouse and picked up the bottles. He delivered them to the ladies at work that day.
The moral of this story is to keep an eye on, better yet, release your expectations.
You see, the original order that fell through was for 33oz bottles - smaller bottles mean a smaller price. Turns out we actually made more money (and proved we were willing to go to the wire to fulfill our commitments) because the initial order fell through.
You can make a list of wishes, dreams, goals or intentions - and you can be as lavish as you like with them. I assure you: God wants to help you see them come to pass. Just…
Maybe not in the same way you thought they would. Maybe not in the same order, or maybe not without a few bumps and bruises along the way.
Actually, come to think of it, I’d have to say that most of my bumps and bruises have been a direct result of my holding more tightly to my expectations (of the how, and when, and where) than to my dreams themselves. When I truly trust God to follow through, then I don’t need any expectations (because expectations are nothing more than us trying to plan and control our own futures - and control is never a result of trust) - I’m just set free to enjoy my life as it unfolds in front of me.
Which is not to imply that this is easy. If you ask me, releasing your expectations after taking the risk of writing the list of dreams down in the first place is kind of like hiking all day to get to the top of a cliff and then… throwing yourself over the edge.
Which reminds me of a Curly Girl card we sell at the store. It says:
“Faith is believing that one of two things will happen,” she said. “That there will be something solid for you to stand on. Or that you will be taught to fly.”
Go ahead, Jump!
And while we are here, here’s Megan’s Wishes on Day Four:
1. I wish I was actively changing women’s lives.
2. I wish I blogged regularly.
3. I wish I had more painting opportunities.
4. I wish my psychic gift was growing and active.
5. I wish the Kung Fu Master had a new friend.
6. I wish I had a healthy, whole and happy body.
7. I wish the store was making $2500 a week.
Tomorrow, there’s only five wishes left!
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On June 9th, 2008 at 1:42 pm
katie Says:
hi megan,
thanks for dropping by my blog and introducing yourself with a comment. so we have a kindred forest in common?!…how beautiful.
wishing you all the best in your new venture - great story about the water bottles. is there such a rush on the stainless steal type because people don’t want the hard plastic any more, because of the recent health findings?
On June 10th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Megan Says:
Hi Katie!
Yep, my forest is really just a strip of a forest on an eco-park in the middle of the city - but I’m eternally grateful it’s there. Just thinking about it makes me want to sigh… I have a thing about trees.
Anyway… On the Stainless Steel - Yep, it’s definitely because of the plastic. It may not be too big a deal in the states yet, but in Canada our minister of health just made a public ban on a certain type of plastic (for baby bottles) which has made people very aware so they are all panicking to get an alternative. And of course, all the Canadian stuff leaks down south so there is suddenly so much demand and not enough material to meet the demand.