Every now and then we have an OMG consumer experience. Yesterday I sent a courtesy email politely declining the services of a design agency to redesign my blog.

There were a number of ways the director could have chosen to communicate her discrepancy with my reasons not to spend my money with her company. Branding me a Gen Y loser (at 33) who couldn’t afford her services, (amongst other things) isn’t one that springs to mind. I was informed that the reason she intentionally copied me in on the email to her design team, that led along the lines of, if i was to reply to this stupid email below here’s what I’d say, was to be transparent in the name of learning, and when my anger subsided, I should read between the lines. Paradox anyone? I wonder if she considers being a spiritual teacher a value-add service?

Could her holier than thou Dali Lama angle have worked? It might have had a better chance, if what she was saying was accurate. She either has telekinetic powers and thinks she can read my bank statements, or she has judged a book by its cover (and we all know how that story ends). Most embarrassing for this woman, is that her presumptions were in fact not issues, or why I chose not to conduct business with her.

Not sold on the idea of reading between the lines to see what I can learn, and being a big advocate of cutting negativity off at the knees, this interaction doesn’t warrant further attention, other than as a source of amusement. So why am I writing a post about it? Because it became apparent that there was in fact a message from the universe in all of it.

Sometimes we are tested. I’m not talking in a 3+3 kind of way, but people testing our confidence, attacking who we are and pushing our buttons, with the gold star being wisdom and strength (I’d do anything for a sticker in school – especially of the scratch and sniff variety. I could pack away my crayons and cross my arms on my desk in ten seconds flat). We become better at recognising when we need to look at ourselves, versus when someone is just projecting their crap onto us, and the gap where you oscillate between the two becomes smaller, with you moving quicker from OMG to a chuckle.

If you want to go to the head of the class, you can take it one step further and see the beauty in the experience. This was one loud clear message, delivering the answer to the quandary I had been pondering a number of days before. Forget World War 2, the greatest war of our times, is the one women often wage within themselves between intuition and intellect. Why does intuition get such a bad rap I wonder, (just try and mention it in most corporate settings without your credibility going down the sink) especially when it more times than not, is the hero that saves the day?

When something feels sharp, ugly and pretentious, it usually is. When the siren rings out across the city alerting civilians of danger, they don’t stand there paralysed with indecision, wondering whether they should flee for their lives into their underground shelter, and the firemen certainly don’t wonder if there really is a fire before they slide down their poles. Next time alarm bells are ringing in your head, instead of ignoring them, listen to yourself and take appropriate action.

NEXT.

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Copyright 2009 | Gaynor Alder