I was talking to a middle aged guy the other day about his Toyota Corolla. He seemed like he probably had a nice office job and a wife named Janice. For this group of words, we'll call him Carl. I didn't really care about Carl's car but he had complimented my truck and he seemed nice, so why not? Turned out to be a jolly conversation about vehicles we grew up driving and how much insurance pays for hail damage. It was a 4 minute conversation in a very small waiting room at a vehicle inspection shop at 7am on a rainy Tuesday.
I didn't need to talk to Carl. He didn't need to talk to me. There's a 98% chance I won't see him again. We ended our time together with a motivated "Have a Good Day" wave. One of my favorite things to do when walking down the street or down a hallway is to make eye contact and say hey to my passerbys. It makes a lot of people uncomfortable, but it shouldn't. Whether you're an intro or extrovert, the average lifespan in the US is only around 80 years and it's your choice what you see in them.
Perspective is a word that is often used in regards to how people see the world. There are two different aspects of perspective: mental and physical. Now I could talk for a coon's age about having a solid mental outlook. But having a great physical perspective while we stroll around on this spinning chunk of earth is almost just as important. (A coon's age is about 1.5- 2 years by the way)
I think it's very important to travel and culture yourself in unique destinations that are out of your comfort zone. Go see some crazy topless indians in South America. Or go see that outlandishly big wall the Chinamen built a few years ago. Those are great options to broaden and better your perspective. But trips like those, for most of us, are rarities. If you are currently like my scheduled self, you're bound by the PTO gods on how far and often you can see the world. And in case my boss is reading, that's an okay thing. It's a current choice I am making.
The point that I am trying to get across is that just because you're not hiking in the Alps, doesn't mean you can't better your physical perspective on a daily basis. I've talked about it before, but we get so caught up in superficials of life, we miss great views almost everyday. I'm guilty of it too. Texting and walking is addictive. TV isn't my thing but I know a few people are a fan of it. These kind of momentary fillers keep us from seeing some of the good looking people and situations in our present.
You see what struck me when I left that waiting room is that I could've spent those 4 minutes updating my social media, but instead I took a moment to pick Carl's brain about the hailstorm of 2013 and the power of his 4 cylinder Corolla. And that made me smile all the way to work.
"Today, stop and smell the roses" is a little over used for my style. Let's go with "Today, stop and stare at people in traffic." Enjoy the visuals you get on a daily basis. Yep.
New in my life: I thoroughly enjoy checking my email these days. I bought a Jonny Lang cd in high school because Jon Perkins told me to. Trying to figure out if I will like my niece or my nephew better.
Keep on smilin'
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