Three strangers who changed my life
Do you know that story about stepping on a butterfly in the past and changing the entire future? That kind of thing doesn’t just happen with time travel, it happens every day with seemingly insignificant acts. A teacher once told me you don’t understand something unless you can explain it in at least two ways and can come up with examples, so to live by his wise words I’ll give you three examples to make my point for me. These are three different people who are complete strangers to me but still somehow managed to have a huge impact on my life.
The running woman who smiled
When I was in school I had an apartment about a mile from campus, so every morning I would walk to school. A woman in town had the habit of going running about the same time, so we would always meet after my first quarter-mile and we would smile and nod at each other as a greeting. There was something about the familiarity of that and the kindness in her smile that just made me feel like it was going to be a good day, and I kept believing that no matter how many times the assumption turned out to be false. I never assumed it would be a bad day if I didn’t see her, like if I had a free period in the morning, but it was like something was missing on the days she didn’t run past me, like bread without butter. I never knew her name or anything about her except that she was a runner, but I would always keep smiling after seeing her.
The woman at the Home Free concert who complimented my skirt
I was recently at my first ever concert, and because of my social anxiety, I was terrified of going. I did go, however, and by the merchant table, I was stopped by a lady who wanted to know if my skirt was homemade, how I’d made it, how much time I’d spend on it and so on. It was so weird to me to see this woman repeatedly complimenting my skirt and carrying out an actual conversation with me, highlighting all the things she thought gave it more charm, which was really all the things that show off how bad I am at sowing. That sort thing isn’t something we do in Denmark, this is a country that had the smartphone stare down to a science before the smartphone was common. This woman not only pointed out my perceived mistakes and flaws as something amazing, she not only complimented me in an honest manner, what she said meant the world to me, because between the lines of all that I read that stupid social norms could be thrown away and forgotten here, that it was okay to be happy about one’s accomplishments, and that having fun was not only allowed but encouraged. That concert was the first time in a long time I felt happy and unburdened. All I know about her is that she went home with a picture of my skirt on her phone, and I went home with the memories of an evening of not feeling guilty for having fun and enjoying myself.
The overly positive and loving YouTube musician
This person I know a bit more about through his many videos over the years, but seeing as I’ve never met him he still very much counts as a stranger. Because I’m highly sensitive (meaning I take in more info about my surroundings than the average person), I am very particular about what music I listen to since there’s so much I take in subconsciously, and it’s easy to get let your mood be influenced or dictated by music. This YouTuber is one of two artists I can mentally stand listening to over prolonged periods of time. Not only that though, but he’s such a romantic being, which I in no way recognize in myself, that what I do take in from his music on a less conscious level is about love. Normally if I listen to the same artist for too long I become somewhat depressed by all the undertones I pick up on, with this guy, however, all the undertones are positive reinforcements. I do know his name, I do know his style of music (even if it in no resembles my own distaste for love songs), and I have made a lot of assumptions about him based on his way of speaking, his word choice and actual sentences he’s said, but what I don’t know is if any of these (however well-founded) assumptions are true. What he’s done for me though could fill a small book: he’s helped me cling to positivity when I was feeling down, he’s been an inspiration to me both in my work and in my life, and he’s constantly telling me to believe in love, and that is just so powerful a message. These people will never know or understand the impact they’ve had on my life or how much I owe them thanks for. I don’t have the most healthy self-esteem, and sometimes I don’t feel like I contribute enough to this world to make up for the reassures spend keeping me here; food, clean water, clean air, etc. I don’t know if that’s something you can recognize, maybe just to some extent, but I do feel like everyone could benefit from recognizing the strangers in their lives who have helped shape them in some way or other. You never know how big an impact you can have on someone, even someone who will never know your name, so every time you feel insecure or insignificant, take a second and think about the strangers in your life who mattered more than they’ll ever know, and feel free to assume someone out there feels the same way about you. We all leave footprints everywhere we go, and there is no such thing as an insignificant footprint (just ask Sherlock Holmes), the only thing we can help is taking care to make our footprints and impacts the positive kind. Smile, you never know which stranger could need you today.
Let’s get the comment section going now, which strangers have influenced you?