Burn it

Oh goodness. Its so pretty outside.

Got two private tours in the past two days. I'm so excited. I really dig them and the money is good and it just pleases me - leads me to think I made the right decision even more.

I met a woman on one of my tours a few weeks ago who stopped me afterward to talk for a bit. She was attractive in an arty kind of way, sort of a husky voice and a strong face. She told me after we talked for a bit that she was interested in being a tour guide and she had a bunch of ideas and could we talk more about it another time?

I have to admit, I was slightly flabbergasted. Wait, I'm the young, cool person giving tours, this new lady can't walk in and steal all my business, right? I got instantly defensive even when I knew I shouldn't. I was certainly open with her because I know in my heart of hearts that this is one of the largest cities in the world with one of the largest not-for-profit tour operators in the world and that there is room for all of us. Plenty. Plus, the Chris Guillebeau's and Seth Godin's of the world would laugh at my worry - there is no competition.

But still, I played it up in my head. Started worrying all about it. She seemed so smart, she's a travel writer who has been published all over the world, she's been out of the country for forever...she was scary to me.

Yesterday I met up with her to talk and I was honestly a little nervous, telling myself not to divulge too much information, hold it close to my heart, be defensive....and of course, what happened? She's kind, smart, funny, nervous, scared, excited...she wasn't trying to steal my ideas or vie for the position of "coolest tour guide" (which really is my goal, in fact, I think we should have the tour guide olympics), she just had questions, wanted to talk, wanted some advice, wanted to share some of hers.

I walked out of there feeling like I had made a friend, someone who is really trying to do the best for herself and for Chicago and has such a completely different style than I do. We each shared our ideas for upcoming tours, they're totally different. I gave her marketing advice that I had learned and she shared her fears.

It was so neat and so proof that I really need to keep opening my heart to people, to be honest about my own business, to help people when they ask for it and to ask them for help in return.

I have been a jealous and envious person my whole life. Time for that to be over. Most people are good at heart and are not trying to stomp on your territory you know? And if they are, they're going to pooch their business so badly it's not even worth worrying about.

Useless emotions. Guilt, jealous, envy....useless.