Opportunities

Over the last few weeks, I have found myself with rare, unplanned opportunities to express my gratitude to people I wouldn't have otherwise had the chance. These were people who didn't know me. People who didn't necessarily need to hear anything from me, but people, when I was presented with the opportunity, I couldn't let pass by.

This was kind of a strange place for me to find myself. I'm SO not one to just go up and start talking to people, especially people I don't know. But, a few weeks ago when I found myself in a conversation with one of these people about something wholly unrelated to me, as it was finishing up, I knew I had to take that opportunity. This person's family had impacted my life, and I expressed my gratitude to them.

Then, to have this same kind of opportunity again - to speak with someone personally about how they have affected my life and again express gratitude was an opportunity I'm glad I didn't pass up.

No, the words didn't just flow freely - I know I stumbled and probably didn't make any sense whatsoever. But today I am grateful that I had those opportunities. Like I said, these were people who have big busy lives of their own - who may not necessarily want or need to hear from strangers like me. But looking back, I realize that I needed to do it for me. I needed to look a little deeper inside myself. Seeing and recognizing the effect others have had on me, then taking the opportunities that were given to merely say thank you. This is something I need to do more of - finding and taking advantage of those opportunities.