Through Your Eyes

You know, sometimes it doesn't take much in life to make your day.

A couple of months ago I created an internet centered marketing business called KPRS Marketing and Promotion. It's purpose is basically to help people get the word out, to promote themselves and their products and/or services using internet-based technology. I've been dabbling in it for years -- it appears to be one of my forte's -- and several trusted advisors suggested that I might put more effort in that area (sometimes even in lieu of photography,they thought) because it was something I really enjoyed doing and I had a lot of energy for it. Of course, photography is my main passion so I couldn't really give that up, but helping other people become successful and reach their potential is also a passion and, admittedly, sometimes it's hard to choose which one I should do at a given moment.

At any rate, in conjunction with this calling, last week I accompanied a couple of colleagues to a Professional Consultant's mixer, and met some really interesting people with unique skills and talents. I went to the mixer after meeting with an exciting marketing client and neglected to bring anything with me that resembled business cards -- as did one of the other consultants I was talking to. So there we stand, two successful business men (cough) gazing at each other with no business cards to exchange. Hmmm. So, I said to the gentleman, "that's okay. Here's Jill's card (one of my colleagues); you know how to get in touch with Jill, and she knows how to get in touch with me, so we're all straight", and we all chuckled and went our merry ways.

A day or so later, a second consultant -- who also knew how to get in touch with Jill -- asked her about me, and asked if I was new to consulting, because he hadn't seen me at any of the other mixers or other networking groups they attended. Later, Jill shared with me what she had written to him -- a very nice run down on who I was and what I did as a consultant, and even combined it with my photography services to present a nice global view of my abilities and talents. I read what she wrote with great amazement, and when I was done reading it, I wrote Jill an email and said... "I like looking at me through your eyes."

Later, I shared that experience with another good friend of mine, and told her how good it made me feel. Later that day *we* were discussing -- emailing, really -- her new life plans, and her aspirations, and in doing so I shared my thoughts of what I considered were her greatest talents and attributes: being very wise, warm and compassionate, kind and caring about other people, very intelligent and giving, and being really cute... (okay; this is me, after all). The next morning after she read her email, she emailed me back, and said, "I like the way I look through your eyes. . . thank you :)"

It is my fervent desire that the majority -- if not all -- of people I come in contact with on a daily basis feel similarly when they leave my company. I'd like to think that I bring out the best in people, help them see their best selves, and be their best selves. I'm not perfect at it, but that is my goal -- to notice people's good points, to point them out, and to give sincere appreciation for those attributes. It is far too easy --and much more common -- for us to spend time finding fault and pointing out people's flaws and bad points. If we spend more time looking for their positive points, we'll feel better, see a different side of them, perhaps, help them feel better about themselves, and just might possibly end up being someone's hero.

Do the people you come in contact with every day (including family members) feel better about themselves because they ran into you during their day? Do people "like looking at themselves through your eyes?"