“The Mississippi RIver flowin’ – downstream, meet the Gulf Of Mexico somewhere – downstream. Meet The Atlantic Ocean somewhere – downstream. Gonna meet you in the water – downstream.”
- Lyric from “Downstream” by The Rainmakers, Kansas City’s finest ever, all the way back to 1980-ish
It’s an irreverent band to select for this audience, but long-time subscribers already know all about Bob Walkenhorst and his band, the number-one ticket seller in Norway.
Business Context? Life context, you might ask? Is there at least a point?
It all flows downstream, or downhill or downstairs – yadda yadda yadda. And we ride the current. But not in the context the saying is usually deployed. Yes, s*** does flow downhill.
Can. Confirm.
So do wealth, favors, legacy, moments, deals, cancellations, love, births, marriages, divorces, and death. (OK, check that; you could argue it stops flowing there at death. Carry on!}
This moment will never be repeated. This thought won’t ever be repeated in the same context or time. This feeling won’t ever be repeated. Not exactly this way. Whatever “it” is, it carries us downstream. Each passing second, further downstream. And when we meet again, we’ll be different – maybe even better from the float.
I’m reconnecting with an old friend from “before the Googler said that Y2K would end the world.” We first met a couple hundred miles upstream. Their float trip split off into a rougher stream branch, where the rapids were fast and dangerous. I ended up on a stream that flowed great or bottomed out.
Why connect again now? Why not?
Was the “stream” too hard on one of us, too easy on the other?
What if you really can’t recall everything about 1988, or 1991 – or whenever it was? A banker (a friend and a Client) and I argued for 10 years over where we first met (we’re both pretty stubborn). And about 100 miles downstream, we still laugh about how neither of us can really remember.
When we set out into the stream, we don’t know where it should or will take us, how fast the flow is, or how rapid the whitewater is. We don’t know if the river ends, converges, or runs dry. But, if we know we’ll end up somewhere, why not be ready when we get there?
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