Sitting in a coffee shop

Well, I'm sitting in a little coffee shop at a little table watching people and wondering how the next few days will unfold. I love what I do. I create. All of us create. It's up to us what we create. We can create chaos or we can create calm. We can change the world or the world can change us and most likely both happens.

Each moment of the day we have the opportunity to change some one's life for the better. It can be as simple as a smile or as complicated as building a school for a country that doesn't have one. One thing is for sure and that is we all gifts. They are called gifts because we are supposed to share them with others.

I mean what good is it if you can sing if you don't sing out loud? What good is it to be a builder if you never built anything?  What good is it to be a writer if you never write?

Well, I like projects. I like seeing a blank sheet of paper and building something from the ground up. It's been nine years since I started thinking about Sweet Mona's. The creation of the chocolate shop started when I worked at Macy's (The Bon) in Seattle. I used to get there early. So early that no one else was there. So in the morning when no one was there I used to "walk the table".

What is walking the table anyway? There was a big conference table in a separate room in our offices. And I used to walk around the table and dream about opening the chocolate shop. I thought about what it would like and what we would have and who would we serve. I wrote a business plan in my head. And finally it went on paper. When I think about it, it seem so very long ago.

And the business plan has changed over the years. I thought the other that that maybe I should have named the shop shapeshifters chocolate because I always seem to be morphing and changing into something else. But now I think that the shapeshifting is done. I look at it and I truly believe that it's perfect. That doesn't mean that there will never be any new flavor or pastries or anything. What it means is that this shop has all the components that I dreamed of.

And so I ask myself... what's next? I'm thinking about a 2nd shop in Freeland. It would be more like a boutique. It would be Sweet Mona's Coffee and Chocolate. For me it looks like a new project. Did I tell you that I like projects? I truly do. A project is fine but this business is not a hobby. It's a business.

When I sit down and I do all the penciling the business should make money. And I guess it does but I think that I spend it as fast as I make it. So this is my task right now. Create a budget. A working budget that keeps Sweet Mona's healthy financially.

Honestly, I've never done a budget. I've never kept within a budget. I've always just believed we'd be OK, we'd make it through. There's a lesson in here I'm sure... I believe that the lesson is to learn how to budget. So that's what I'm doing. No more spending willy nilly for this and for that.  I must stick to a budget.

This is part of the journey--learning. Listening to your heart and hearing what the next lesson might be coming at you and being open to learn the lesson. That's what I must remember. To be open to the lesson and listen and learn.

So, that's where I'm at today. And tomorrow.... who knows where I'll be. Have a happy weekend.