Recently I was on a flight home and was feeling a little weary from the busy day I had just had and secured myself a window seat, so I could do the, ‘turn and twist move’ and pretend to sleep.
Or so I thought!
The lovely young lady next to me had the cutest baby boy (not as cute as my grandson of course) and his big blue eyes kept staring at me. I tried to avoid them, but then he started slapping my knee and well, there was nowhere for me to hide!
So I did the standard, ‘oh your baby is so cute, what’s his name’ line and felt very much like a politician when I asked if I could hold him. She preceded to hand me her child and thinking back now, that was more to get 5 minutes to herself as this little boy was very active and she was travelling alone.
Then the awkward silence set in.
You know what I mean. I’m holding her child, we have run out of small talk and now it’s just some strange woman, holding her baby! We hear the sound of the drinks cart coming down the galley and both turn around, as if to say ‘thank god we have a distraction’.
Then something very different happened.
She turned to me and said, ‘so what were you down in Melbourne for?’. Now for a young lady to ask that and start the conversation, I thought was quite mature of her. (Does that make me sound really old?).
Now I could have easily slid straight into ‘elevator pitch mode’ and given her my spiel, however I wouldn’t be called the YWoman if I did that now would I. So I replied with this instead.
Firstly, let me tell you Y I do what I do, as that will then answer your question in more detail, to which she responded ‘ oh ok then’.
(I’m sure she was thinking at that point, this lady is getting stranger by the minute!).
So I started to share with her Y I had gotten up at 3:30am and flown down to Melbourne, the event that I had spoken at and the orphanage that we are opening in Thailand in 2017. I shared with her a little about my child hood story and the reason behind me wanting to open the orphanage and how this was going to help 20 little girls under the age of 5, have a chance to choose their destiny.
Well at this point, her jaw had dropped, the baby was sitting silently on her lap, fixated on me and the gentleman sitting next to her, had leaned in to listen to the story as well.
What I confirmed in that moment was, when we share our purpose for being here and share our visions with people, they see you as a real person making a difference in the world and not some strange woman all dressed up on the plane pretending to be asleep!
What happened next was beautiful…
She took a moment to comprehend all that I had said and then, with a few tears in her eyes, told me that she was really touched by my story and was struggling a bit at the moment in life and with her partner and asked me how I stayed focussed on my vision, my Y, when things got tough.
Again, for a young lady to ask such deep questions and for help, I knew I was sitting next to an incredible young human being. We ended up chatting the whole flight home, the guy next to her joined in and it turned out that he knew my brother-in-law and was a builder and offered his services to the orphanage project. You just never know how kind human beings are do you.
She left such an impact on me, I couldn’t wait to get home and send her a copy of my book and emailed her telling her that if she ever needed help, or someone to chat to, to please reach out to me.
Now if I had done the normal thing, when asked why I was in Melbourne, this beautiful life changing connection would not have taken place. We never sit next to someone we are not meant to and you never know who you can help.
You just never know where I might meet these strangers again, but one thing I know is, that I will.
Take a moment to share your Y with everyone you meet, you could be helping them more than you know.
Shar is the author of From Broke To BMW in 18 months, a chronicled memoir of her experience in recovery, after a failed business, hrough to the successful launch and development, of the YGroup.
