The People We Might Never Meet
An essay on people who enter our lives when we least expect it and what lasting impressions they leave.
Something strange happened recently.
My husband and I were skiing in Austria, and while taking the ski lift, a man sitting next to me was wearing this leg device that seemed to support his legs and knees, so I asked what it did.
In his husky French accent, he explained how this device takes over a third of your body weight when you ski.
I explained that in 2019, my son had skied into me, causing a ruptured ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament Repair) and necessitating an operation.
Although the knee is solid, it has not felt the same as before the operation.
As we got out of the lift, he gestured me to their test stand, Ski-Mojo, where I was fitted with the device, and we went on several ski runs to test it out.
He then let me test it for the rest of the day, and it was such great fun.
I was sold on the whole design.
This device will enable me to ski, a sport I love. Before this encounter, I genuinely believed my skiing days were numbered.
It has given me a new lease of life, and I am truly grateful to this charming Jean-Marc.
But this got me thinking about how fate can intervene and how being receptive and open can change one's life.
I found myself in an unexpected situation culminating in an encounter with a stranger.
Being open-minded and reciprocal to the idea that this man could give my ski legs longevity opened my eyes to a new world of possibility and one I was willing to consider.
This chance meeting gave me renewed confidence that, up to this point, I was questioning.
With age, each new situation we find ourselves in can teach us something new.
I was responsive, and there was an instant rapport of support and camaraderie, which gave me the confidence to believe that my skiing days weren't numbered but starting over.
This brief relationship enriched my life because I was willing to learn and take advice.
I am hard on myself and constantly push barriers to betterment.
Skiing is no different, and I wanted to attain the level I was at in 2020.
Four years and COVID-19 in between meant that I hadn't skied in all this time, so I needed more confidence and was worried about how my knee would stand up through skiing again.
This chance meeting of fate changed that; he made a huge difference, and, in a small way, it was a defining moment.
At the start of 2024, my intuition strongly suggests that this year would be a defining year.
Already into the third month of the year, I am showing up for life with a smile.
Even though there are days when I am depleted of energy and need to press the pause button on business, I am rolling with it.
When we stop worrying about events we can't control, we can give time to the important things.
It also makes us more open to new ideas, and my stranger made me see things differently.
How many people in this world might we never meet or cross paths with who could have the potential to change our lives?
It's exciting to think that there is one unique individual or several people we have yet to meet who can change our thoughts, way of thinking and lives through one accidental meeting.
I find it amazing that someone can have such a profound effect on you that it makes you reevaluate life differently and see a new course or direction that I might not have considered had I not met that person.
It is mind-blowing.
If we are open to new ideas and receptive to strangers who come into our lives, think how different the world would be.
Life is a constant gaze at the iPhone.
Our attention span is reduced to seconds, and our quality of life is declining, so chatting with a stranger is a blessing and a rare occurrence.
Being courteous, kind, and mindful allows us to see people differently and to be more accepting of who they are.
And a chance meeting that has the potential to be the start of a lifelong friendship, how wonderful is that?