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DAVID BENTLEY'S WEEKLY COLUMN |
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MY SIGNATURE RED COAT
On an unseasonably warm day with clear blue skies, I was doing errands on foot. A friend saw me and announced, “David must be hot. He’s not wearing his signature red coat.” That statement immediately made me remember Mrs. D. H. Perkins, a woman once well known in Northwest Louisiana historical circles. She wore only purple clothing with purple accessories. She drove a purple car. Her home was painted purple, and she was known as "Mrs. Purple Perkins." Now Mrs. Perkins could have been said to be wearing her signature purple clothing or driving her signature purple car. Her house might be pointed out as her signature purple home. Obviously she had an affinity for the color purple, and chose to make it a large part of her life. When I moved to the island almost 14 years ago, I needed a coat appropriate to the weather here. So I went shopping in Seattle with some friends. I told them that I needed a coat, and they took me to the Eddie Bauer Store. They showed me the coat that I needed. All I had to do was choose the color, red or forest green. One of my shopping companions urged me to get the red coat because it would be brighter on gray, winter days. So I bought the red coat. Six years later, the coat was stolen from my truck in Canada. So, out of habit, I replaced it with another red coat from the Eddie Bauer catalog. Without realizing it, those two arbitrary choices have given me my "signature red coat." The choices we make over time define us in the eyes of others. Some choices we make are deliberate like those of Mrs. Purple Perkins. Others we make without giving them much thought, like my purchase of two red coats. Yet any of them can become our signature choices.
© 2005 David Bentley David Bentley, M.Ed. & Personal Coach, coaches clients through the game of life, helping them find balance, clarity of direction, and purpose in an ever-changing world. You may contact him at 360.378.8436 by e-mail at david@coachbentley.com or visit his Web site: www.coachbentley.com |
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