First Impressions

Like many, somewhere ingrained in the back of my brain is the saying my parents repeated to me, "You never get a second chance to make a good first impression." As a result, I spent many moments over my lifetime agonizing about what I looked like, what I would say and perhaps even who I would be.

Received for it's simple message, the saying has impact and value: check your teeth for remnants of your last meal, smell your breath, make sure your clothing is secured, don't chew gum or swirl your hair, speak clearly and make eye contact. These are all tidbits of behaviors I consider if I am wanting to make a good first impression.

So, when creating my website I have done what is familiar; I have agonized about the first impression it would make. It has been a work in progress for quite sometime. Without the people in my life who kept me on task and pushed me along, my website would be another souvenir stored in my memory box filled with the things in my life I have only dreamed about accomplishing.

Looking inside my memory box, I see it contains half started adventures of both a professional and personal nature. Somewhere after the ideas arrived, a reality of sorts would follow the same pathway in my brain that included: "You never get a second chance to make a first good impression." Somehow the saying translated to a language that I heard as, "Failure might be visible to others if you take your dreams out of your treasure box." Fear of failure, embarrassment, or feelings of inadequacy or inferiority have kept my treasure box not only closed but tucked away under my bed where I could not see it.

Today my reality includes something like this thought: If I am not afraid to fail at my first impression, perhaps just maybe, I have been able to make an impression at all.

So, I introduce to you my website, flaws and all and offer you this saying instead:
You might not get a second chance to make a good first impression but you just might get a second chance to make a positive lasting impression.