Repentance

Yesterday I had a set task that I was not looking forward to do. I needed to confront my partner, in order word my, brother.

So let me put everything in context and maybe you'll understand my position at the time. My brother and I are legal partner in this venture, opening a quick service restaurant. This business is the beginning of what we believe to be a legacy for our children. I jumped head first into this adventure, like most project I take on. I poured my heart and still pouring (just ask Melissa) into it, sometimes to detriment of other obligations I have, however it is presently my priority.I started to learn everything I thought was needed, I started to seek all the counsel that existed in the world of franchising, financing, operation, entrepreneurship, leadership etc...You get the picture.

I had envisioned that my enthusiasm of the project would inevitably leak onto my brother. That by some strange event, he would grab on to the exhilaration of a new project and he too would be swept and would before long would be running with me into the sunset where the sun never set and the leaves they never fade, in this beautiful city of gold!! I mean I was in the zone, I was pushing, prodding, lifting any kind of 'ing' you can imagine.

Alas, I felt alone in this endeavor and in the past 4 days I have started to resent the partnership.

This past Wednesday, I sat alone in my room mauling over the feelings of negativity I had towards my brother. As you can imagine, any new project starting with resentment between partners needs to be taken care of as soon as possible, however my nature is not to disturb anything and anyone unless really pissed off, stew and internalize any malignant thoughts and, sadly I must confess, to victimize myself.

I had to repent, in a flash of genius, I discovered that my brother was never at fault, but I was. You see, Alain was doing all he knew he could do, with all is heart and knowledge, he did pour HIS soul into this project. The problem was me, I wanted Alain to be EXACTLY like me, to walk, to think, to feel just like me (I was going to write to poop, but I didn't feel it would be value added, oh crap I just did, of well). And there lied my mistake.

I had to ask forgiveness to my brother for having negative feelings toward him. And in return, he accepted my apologies and shared with me some of his own inner struggle. I was able to see through his own eyes and we found a way to keep on running together.

When we partner with someone in a project, we are bound to be disappointed. Simply because of our expectations of others will never be the same as their expectation of themselves. We in response to that problem, must be willing to accept our own fault and be willing to walk in the other person's shoes. You may just be surprised how fast your project may fly once all the air has been cleared out.