I love the idea of small world moments. The possibility for their occurrence is beyond what we even realize. I’m sure I miss out on a ton with my run around the streets mentality. It takes a keen eye. It takes being open to opportunity. Sometimes it takes the courage to actually act upon these moments.
One of my craziest small world moments happened when I was in Israel 4 years ago. I was there in May. The previous January my family and I had traveled to Cancun. We were hanging out on the beach (sounds nice right now) when we started talking to a man (and his family) who was wearing a Syracuse hat. My dad went to Cuse and so did my sister (side note: I am in fact a Cuse basketball fan even though I did not go there…everyone seems to think I did) so the conversation flowed. We didn’t see them again. UNTIL… I was walking around the streets of Jerusalem and I saw a man pass by me wearing a Syracuse hat. Naturally, I took notice of the hat. I then realized it was the same random man from Cancun! I stopped him to say hello and he was floored! He said, “I have to go grab my wife! This is too crazy.” We had a nice five-minute conversation and we were all on our way. We didn’t exchange phone numbers or email addresses. This time, it wasn’t about keeping in touch but about making that social connection.
Floating in the Dead Sea!
Social connections open the door to opportunity. Going out of your way to say hello. Going out of your comfort zone at the risk of rejection or failure. OVERUSED QUOTE ALERT: “With great risk, comes great reward.” You never know when that risk will pay off. Next time, go for it!
I told you about my crazy small world moment. What’s yours?!?
