I've learned that throughout our lifetimes many people will come and go. Sometimes you encounter people briefly and other times they become a daily part of our lives. Each person, each encounter can have a lasting impact on our lives. That smile or encouraging word from a complete stranger can be as powerful as that loving loyal friend who has lended us their ear for years.
Sometimes we are so caught up in what we are dealing with ourselves that we forget to reach out to others and connect with them in a genuine caring manner. We can trudge through our day wrapped up in our own pain, worries and suffering and forget to look around us and reach out to others who may need a friendly smile or just some eye contact and acknowledgement that they are seen as a person.
I know that I have been guilty of avoiding connecting with others, of floating through my day avoiding contact like I'm a ghost floating through my own life. Maybe putting the blinders on when I go out is a way to protect myself, maybe those blinders keep me from getting too involved in the world around me or they keep me from opening myself up to rejection, I am sure there are many reasons behind this behavior.
It's easy when we've experienced what we perceived as judgment, rejection or abandonment in relationships to understand why we would not want to reach out to others in anyway, but perhaps if we look at those situations deeply, we will see important lessons we've learned from what we've experienced. Perhaps we can see that even though someone left our life on not such great terms or reacted to us in a manner that was not very kind, having them in our life effected us in important ways.
Without failed relationships and difficult experiences we wouldn't have the opportunity to look deeply at ourselves and learn and grow. Maybe in trying to protect ourselves by avoiding reaching out to others we are actually harming ourselves and keeping ourselves stuck. Perhaps our fear of getting hurt is what is actually hurting us.
Maybe letting go of fear and reaching out to others where ever we are is important to healing and growth. I do know form personal experience that when I reach out to others, whether its through a deep conversation or simple smile and nod, I feel better. I also know that having someone reach out to me in some way whether it is through just a simple smile, a quick email or a deep conversation, I feel better. Maybe the key is setting aside our fear, taking our blinders off, looking at each person, each point of contact as an opportunity to learn and grow in some way, no matter what reaction we receive and reaching out to others with confidence.
