Everyone always encourages you not to talk to strangers from an early age. Not just because it can be dangerous but because it is now against normal human interaction to actually speak face to face. To put your phone down and actually talk to someone is crazy right? I must be crazy if I talk to a stranger? But it is perfectly fine to do exactly the same for DM’s and PM’s. This kind of thinking has created a society too anxious about what others think to actually look up, communicate and see what the world has to offer in front of them. The aim of this blog is to get you to think about the opportunities that could open up to you if you looked past what you have been told is ‘normal’. To think bigger. To think better.
The stranger days:
It all started whilst I was on the way to Pitea the very North of Sweden. I had met some amazing people in Bolmso Islands who had invited me and George to join them on a family holiday. On the way to Pitea in the North of Sweden we were choosing random beaches to stay on each night and chose a beautiful one called Lutens Vag. Arriving late at night we checked the weather, it was meant to be beautiful the next day. That morning we got out our camping chairs and decided it was defiantly a chilling day.
Starting the morning as planned I got out my book ‘The Cocaine Diaries‘ as George sat and scribbled blog ideas. Her blog ideas are often deep and meaningful quotes she likes to create which I enjoy winding her up about, for example, “Gratitude dissolves negativity”. Personally, winding her up is one of my favourite ways to pass time. After about 20 minutes though George had wandered off to go and talk to a guy. Now this guy already didn’t look like a normal guy he was hanging outside in his hammock in front of a wooden shack on the beach. The wooden shack had a skateboarding park and broken surf boards surrounding it.
After about ten minutes George came back over to try to tempt me out of my book. The guy, Rob, had invited us in for coffee. Now I am never going to say no to free coffee. Inside the shack was just as amazing it had old school leather sofas and the ceiling had even more boards hanging around. We got deep into conversation discovering that the shack was actually part of a local surf club and that each member had a key and could just turn up and use any of the equipment when they fancied it!
Talking about our dreams I mentioned that stand up paddle boarding was something on my bucket list to do. Then about 20 minutes later we were in the sea paddle board and windsurfing board in hand. That day because George went and spoke to a stranger not only did I create a friend for life; I completed one thing on my bucket list and discovered that windsurfing should have been on my bucket list. We spent about 4 hours in the sea and now I have decided I will be investing in a stand up paddle board and also be looking into the possibility of joining a surf club like this when I return home.
Talking to strangers it has the potential to open up pathways, opportunities and friendships. Which you would have never experienced if you had not taken the risk.
I get what you are saying, sometimes we judge people to quickly when really we should give them a chance! The kindness of humanity is often underrated.