In the story, BENT, there are definitely a lot of connections to the story before, TRANSFERENCE. For Transference, the science of it was strict. The laws of nature, of thermodynamics, had to be obeyed. So, that, of course, led me to think about what if we bent those laws? And a new story arises.
So, for the takeaway idea today, I also want to continue off of the last episode a little, and share another story about that choice I made…
A LITTLE CONTINUATION
To remind you, I decided in January to take a month off from the podcast to work on my novel with a little more gusto. In the end, though, I realized I have a lot more to do with that novel to get it right, and also… I never want to put this podcast on hold again. I’ve done it twice now, and both times it resulted in the same experience. It sucked. Not that I’m not enjoying working on my novel, and I will, of course, continue to do so, but not at the expense of this podcast. My decision, crazy or not, was that this project is more important to me than all the others. Now, let me tell you a little story about what happened right after I made that choice to never waiver on this podcast again…
After I made my decision, I, of course, started working on the next episode immediately. On a Tuesday or a Wednesday, about a week later, I record the episode. That night, my wife comes to me with the idea of going out for dinner. Nothing fancy, just to go out. It was a beautiful night, warm, clear skies. We’ve been trying to commit to not going out as much, so deciding to do so took a little debating
But in the end, Victoria literally said, “It feels right.”
“Ok,” I said. “Let’s do it.”
Our destination is a place called Zoe’s Kitchen in Birkdale Village, a great area to walk around outside with shops and restaurants. Zoe’s is definitely on the healthier side, which is our aim. We park, walk across the street, but before we get to the front doors, we both stop. The scent is in the air, coming from somewhere around the corner, irresistible… burgers. We look at each other, and we know what’s about to happen.
Sorry, Zoe’s… we’ll see you next time.
There’s a new burger place, that’s been open for a while, and that’s where our noses take us. Someone leaves as we’re staring at the menu outside, and he calls back.
“It’s the best!”
Good enough for us… not that we really need a push.
The guy behind the register, Domenic, is friendly, and upbeat. He helps us make our minds up and order… I get a double burger because… that’s the only way to live!
Are you hungry yet? I’m practically drooling writing this! Getting to the point of the story…
We end up talking to Domenic a little more. Hard not to, he’s really outgoing, and I’m curious—I want to know his story a bit. The conversation eventually gets around to this podcast, or that I write a podcast.
“I love podcasts!” Domenic says, and he immediately pulls out his phone. “What’s yours called?”
“More than a story,” I say.
He looks it up, leaning on our table a little so I can see his phone too. He clicks on it, and then we both pause.
“I thought it sounded familiar!” he says.
It’s already downloaded on his phone! I tell him about the new episode coming out on Friday, and he says, “Perfect, I’m traveling on Friday.”
The whole thing was really wild, but let me make it wilder!
Let’s think of the odds of this. My podcast is not on any chart-topping lists at the moment. I’m not even at 100 downloads per episode yet. So, that makes the odds of running into a listener, who I don’t know, off the charts crazy. Plus, Domenic even shared that he doesn’t work there very often. He was just filling in out of a need that night. We change our initial destination on the fly, away from Zoe’s and over to B.Good burgers. It’s all pretty unbelievable if you really stop to think about it.
So, why am I sharing this? Well, first off it’s just pretty damn cool, and I wanted to do an extra shout out to Domenic! It was so awesome meeting you. Second is that I believe events like that are no coincidence. To me, it’s a clear message from the Universe telling me, “yes, Derek, you got it right.” And so, I won’t put this podcast on hold again.
Now, maybe you don’t believe in messages from the universe, and that’s totally fine…
…Maybe I’m crazy? Maybe I’m thinking something is there, that isn’t. Like a flicker of a light bulb, that may have never happened. Or did it? In the end… it’s up to you.