With Purpose and Passion,

Julie Jordan Scott
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And The Walls Came Tumbling Down
(c) 2001
Julie Jordan Scott


As children, my brothers, sister and I would run to our neighbors
backyard through another backyard many times throughout the
day. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Backyards
rolled together with an occasional bank of trees in between. These
barriers were quickly made into jungles to drive through en route
to the discovery of the lost ark or something similar.

Visiting my home town as a college student, I went to the bank
with the once little girl whose yard I would run freely towards. I
looked at the tellers behind plexiglass inside the bank building.
The hugely ornate safety features. The cage-like aura of the
financial institution. I watched as employees flashed badges to
gain the privilege of riding escalators to their cubicles where they
would take their place as cogs in the wheel of that particular
corporation.

"What is up with the jailhouse style of this bank?" I asked my
friend, incredulously.

She looked back at me, startled, "Because the tellers would not be
safe otherwise! They have to be protected!" I looked around at the
plexiglass-fish-bowl-safety-net and shrugged.

"I have never seen a bank like this where I live now. And I don't
hear about many bank robberies, either."

We simultaneously turned to look straight ahead, and went about
our business.

It was not until much later that I remembered this conversation.

I was visiting family in the Midwest, touring some of the
neighborhoods
where new homes were being built. Beautiful large homes on well
manicured lawns connected by rolling hills. Flowerbeds and trees
were bountiful. It was absolutely beautiful, a serene environment,
I thought, a place where adults and children alike would flourish.
I noticed swing sets and jungle gyms in back yards that I could
see from the front yards. People were out, walking babies and
dogs.

In a moment I noticed something else.

The absence of fences. No Dividing walls. A lack of structures
designed to keep others out. There simply were none there.
Only wide open, peaceful, mind-freeing spaces where the song of
"community" rang loud and clear.

Whether it is an employee separated by those he or she is serving
through special key codes and ID cards or plexiglass or homes
built with large gates, walls and dividing lines for "protection", a
touch of irony is ever-present. As we build fortresses and buffers
to keep ourselves separate, we are in fact closing off opportunities.
We are effectively disallowing possibilities to reach into our lives,
our communities, our worlds.

In the movie, "The Doctor" there is a memorable, pivotal scene.
Two cancer patients are on a drive out in the country. The main
character, a successful physician who is also a cancer patient, is
with a young woman who is standing in death's doorway.

She told the doctor to put his arms down. To allow himself the
freedom to embrace other people. To stop feeling the need to protect
himself from whatever "boogie man" he had created in his own
mind. That allowing himself the freedom to become vulnerable,
he was in effect inviting in all that his heart longed to have.

"Put your arms down" she spoke simply and steadfastly. She
could have said "Take the walls down" or "Remove your barriers"
or "Allow liberation to come to you."

Passion Principle #9 states: "Be strongly vulnerable in connecting
with people core to core instead of superficially. Replace backing
away behavior with drawing close behavior. Practice interdependency
for the strength of synergy rather than the weakness of self
indulgence."

In allowing people into your life, into your home, into your workplace
you are inviting the abundance of their very being in as well. In
embracing them, your abundance flourishes. By building upon the
openness instead of the separation, you can stand strongly in your
purpose. You will begin to share your vision. Together, you can
link to greatness.

Up over the rolling hills, the swingsets, the smiles, the
possibilities.

Connect to your greatness. Live Passionately, Today.

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email. mailto:PassionPrinciples@...
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Julie Jordan Scott is a Professional Success Coach. Visit her website
to find out more about her latest free coaching offers as well as
many resources for your most passionate lifestyle!
http://www.5passions.com/coachingoffer.html. Send Julie a note
at mailto:julie@... and let her know how you will
apply what you read today. She is waiting to hear from you!