Every day, we are immersed in a world full of people we've never met. Every day, we see people, pass people, walk or drive beside people who we will never be exposed to again. They're not just "people" or statistics; they're people with an entire life - with a story all their own. They have families and friends, and a lifetime leading up to that moment. What do we do with these seconds or minutes that we have with them, perhaps the only seconds or minutes they are in our lives?
Obviously, we cannot greet EVERY new person we encounter, but what about reaching out to one? Even if it's a smile, or a nice "hello!" - why not make the best of those precious few seconds fate has given you together.
There's a song by the band ForeverInMotion called "Flight 268" :
International airport.
Waiting for my flight home
in a terminal filled with strangers I’ll never get to know.
Weaving through one another, we chase the blue concourse signs
And with our cell phones and the daily news we draw our boundary lines.
The possibilities float like ghosts in this waiting room of idle hearts.
Don’t be polite, just be real.
I want to know how you feel.
I want to find out who you are.
You’ll never know the things you’ve missed
if you contemplate but never try,
To scale the walls outside your soul where even the bravest hide.
The chance is yours for the taking, and everything depends on
This transient moment that could turn strangers into friends.
The possibilities fill the air like a song played from far away.
Full of stories, hopes, dreams,
and laced with insecurity, scars, and pain.
The possibilities float like ghosts
And they’re haunting my every thought.
So please tell me all your stories.
You can show me your scars.
And we’ll celebrate just being here
And being who we are.
Of all the love… of all the friends…
of all the things that could have been…
If we had only let them in.
We’ll never know the things we’ve missed if we never try
To let down our guard and let out who we are inside.
There are about 6.7 billion people on this planet - how many of them have you talked to? How many have you encountered?
