“The right people enter my life at the right time.”
That was the daily affirmation I received this morning from the new website/app Sooak.com (https://soaak.com/21-day-programs/sarah-hiner/) which combines mindfulness practices, daily affirmations, and healing sound frequencies to help users live happier and healthier lives.
I get an affirmation every day, but today’s was especially powerful because it speaks to two of my core principles of life:
And so it was, that when I went to the grocery store I learned a wonderful lesson in positivity and spreading joy from Aya, the cashier. I was still in the early morning fog when Aya greeted me with a large smile and joyful good morning. When I commented on her enthusiasm and thanked her for brightening my day, she shared her deep and heartfelt gratitude for every day.. her health.. her family… her job…the beauty of nature…
Thank you Aya for entering my life this morning, infusing me with your warmth and reminding me to step away from the frustrations of the daily news reports to live in the simple joys of life.
You may say that this is silly… and that there are friendly people everywhere so why make such a big deal out of some friendly cashier? Because I think it’s far too easy to dismiss the mundane while searching for a miracle, when in fact that magic is occurring all of the time.
There is an old joke where a man is stranded on a roof top during a flood. He prays to God to ask for assistance. While on the roof a person in a kayak comes along to offer help. The man declines and says that he’s waiting for God to help him to safety. A person in a row boat than comes along and again the man declines the assistance. A third person in a small motor boat offers aide but again the man sticks with his belief that God will help him and declines the help. Well, the man ended up dying and when he reached St. Peter’s gate he asks why God had not answered his prayers. The response: “I sent you a kayak, a row boat and motor boat and you refused.”
I’ve experienced it countless times at work and at home and on both large and small scales…
I wouldn’t have started writing this blog were it not for the very powerful public relations expert who called me out of the blue soon after I became president of Bottom Line and was working to expand the awareness of our brand and mission. Robert Dilenschneider, a long time Bottom Line expert and one of the best connected people I have ever met, called and invited me to lunch. It was from that lunch that we planted the seeds for our communications plan and, more importantly, opened my eyes to the possibility of existing on a much larger stage than I had ever conceived.
I had a similar experience five years earlier when a non-descript meeting with someone regarding a possible advertiser on our website, turned into my developing and hosting a radio show. Again, I never even imagined doing anything like that but magic struck at the right moment, and what started as quick drinks with some business friend of a friend turned into a whole new path for me in radio (later podcasts) and video. Not to mention that he is now one of my most trustworthy friends and truth-tellers when I need to hear no nonsense feedback on an idea.
Had my daughter and her husband, who were both athletes and attended the same college, met years, months or even weeks earlier their relationship may never have happened. But senior year, one week after the end of my daughter’s field hockey career, the two met in a bar in Washington D.C. while out with friends. Why was this moment so vital and not sooner? Because prior to this time, my daughter would not have had time for a relationship given the rigors of being a Division 1 student athlete . However, once sports was over, she now had space in her life for romance.
These are but a small taste of the many people who have passed through my life at just the right moment, changing the path or changing my perspective. Think for a moment about the people who have passed through your life and how many of them appeared at just the right time.
Or, if you haven’t experienced it, how can you join the parade? It’s simple – just be open to others. Far too often we passively just try to get through our days, heads down and avoiding adding anything else to our plates. I get it… life is busy and can be overwhelming. But while you’re head is in self preservation mode, what are you missing out on? I wrote a blog several years ago encouraging readers to ask someone their name and see what happens because hey, you never know. (https://bottomlineinc.com/blogs/common-threads/ask-someones-name-and-see-what-happens).
I always encourage young people to take a phone call from a recruiter and possibly even go on a job interview… not because you’re looking to change jobs, but because you never know what you will learn along the way. Joining clubs or committees in your town also makes you available to new interactions and relationships. Honestly anything that gets you looking up and out rather than down and in creates the possibility of meeting the right person at the right time. And when you are really wanting to cancel plans with your friends to go out that’s absolutely when you should push through and go anyway. 38 years years ago, that’s when I met my husband.
