I have a good friend named Dutch Miller.  Dutch is a great guy with a lot of talents…one of them being story telling.  While all of his stories are engaging, there is a special one he told me a few years ago that I’ve never forgotten.

Dutch used to own an IGA Grocery Store and from time to time, Corporate would send someone out to check up on the store and make sure everything was in order and running smoothly.  Dutch tells of the gentleman showing up, standing on the sidewalk out front and studying the exterior of the building.  He then talked with Dutch for a while and gave him his review, noting that everything looked good.  Dutch thought it was odd that the man never even went inside before finishing his review, but didn’t say anything.

This happened a few more times.  The same representative from Corporate would show up, look over the outside of the grocery store and give Dutch a glowing review.  Finally, Dutch had to ask the question:  “Don’t you need to go inside and inspect everything to give me a full review?”  The man looked back at Dutch and said, “I can tell everything I need to for my report from the outside of your store.  Sometimes I visit stores and the signs in the windows are crooked and thrown up haphazardly.  When I see these, I go inside and see that the store is run the same way.  However, when I see that someone has gone to the trouble to make sure that all signs and posters are straight, spaced out proportionately and the windows are clean, I know that I’m going to find a tightly run ship on the inside and don’t have to bother wasting anyone’s time.”

Dutch took pride in the outside appearance of his store and the man from Corporate recognized that.  And he was right.  Dutch’s store was clean, orderly and run well.  The outside accurately reflected the inside and the man from Corporate saw all he needed to know to form an opinion.

Our lives are the same.  Our outward appearance (our actions) defines who we are in the eyes of the public.  We can have the best intentions in the world, but we all know where the road paved with these leads.  It’s not until we start acting…start doing…start being who we want to be, that other people see us for that.  After hearing this story, I tried to be conscious of my actions reflecting my motives.  I always try to make sure that ‘my signs are straight!’

I’ve tried to relay Dutch’s story to the best of my ability.  However, to authenticate that all of my facts are correct or to simply hear this story or any one of a thousand more, pay Dutch a visit at the Daily Grind in the Winchester Medical Center.  Buy a cup of coffee and get a story for free!