It’s easy to underestimate what positive effect the simplest engagements with another may have on their lives, and how much others may benefit from our moving beyond our comfort zone to share a few words with intention to serve...
I’m up snowboarding at Whistler today...
Typically, I don’t talk to many people - in general. I’m definitely weighted toward the “introvert” side and don’t care too much for random chit chat. And especially when on the mountain with my headphones on listening to music, I don’t often go out of my way to initiate conversations with strangers.
Yet, I’ve grown enough to recognize that sometimes there are exchanges to be had in simple conversations, where it’s worth breaking such habits.
I was about to go up the Blackcomb gondola by myself, when another man got on. Comfort zone’s boundaries weakened.
He was the first to speak, asking about the size of my snowboard. Random chit chat, not my favourite. But whatever. Just go with it. Next, I asked about his accent - though it might of been South African, but turns out he was originally from Trinidad. Still, basic stuff. Nothing too meaningful.
As we continued up, there was a slight awkwardness - probably just my own, as can often be the case in such situations where I feel contained within an interaction and not anything particularly meaningful to say. Yet, there was a part of me question:
Was there some purpose I ended up in a conversation with this man today? Was there some particular exchange to be had, that he was the only person I talked to on the hill today?
And as we neared the top, it came...
One basic subject led to another:
He wished he had started snowboarding earlier... but enjoys it now, especially since he can’t play soccer like he used to because of some ankle issues... I say he’s lucky snowboarding doesn’t bug it... he says it still upsets his knees sometimes.
Bam.
Out comes the suggestion: “tweak the stance/settings of your bindings.”
He says he has them set facing apart in either direction. I share: that can put extra stress on the knees, and he might lessen the stress by bringing the back inwards more, alleviating some of the pressure.
So simple.
Yet here, sitting through a basic conversation with a random stranger and sharing that one simple piece of information could have potentially saved him further physical discomfort - or even injury.
Point of the story?
We never know what gifts we might have to offer others, or how easily they might be passed on, should we step out of our comfort zone a little bit to engage and share a little sumthin’ when the appropriate opportunity arises.
Over the course of our lives, we learn many little things - some of which others have not yet learned. It’s easy to overlook how much we might actually have to gift others, and it might not always be our priority to be on the lookout for those key moments to pass on something to another that’d make a difference to them. But, we’ll never know the ripple effects of going out of our way just a little bit to pay forward such simple lessons when those windows are open.
And as an aside...
In my last posting, I had written that I was stepping back from Steemit. (And the withdrawals from doing so - and simultaneously easing off on Facebook as well - has not been smooth). But, there’s something sorta telling me to share this story. Cuz maybe there’s even one person who will get the message. And because of it, maybe they will open up and share something with someone else that may serve as a small yet positively impactful gift. (Whether through writing on Steemit, or “random” chit-chat with a stranger in real life.)
Yeah, I might’ve gone back on my word about “stopping” writing on Steemit here. But, fuck it. If there is that one person down the line somewhere who benefits because of being flexible with that commitment... then it was probably worth it.
Onwards...