There are so many people in the world, and with all of these people comes many stories and so much potential for interaction. Every day I walk around and wonder to myself whether or not this person will ever be a part of my life, or if I’ll ever cross paths with that person again. We are a culmination of all the things that have led up to any single moment, in that regard we are all so unique. This variety of people leads me to believe that all relationships are rare and individual in their own right.
I have experienced this in my own life. There was a girl in my life whom I said hi to in passing almost daily, all I knew was her name, after a little while this stopped and she faded from my life. One day however, our paths crossed again and this time we were forced to interact on a deeper level. As time progressed so did our relationship, until one day I realized she was one of the biggest parts of my life. I see this kind of thing all of the time. Most people meet on a whim, almost always through luck, and forget how they got there.
I spoke before of our complexities, and the tremendous amount of combinations our complex personalities could make when combined with one another. Now just reflect on this, and imagine all of the people you encounter throughout the day. It is unimaginable the possibilities that lie ahead with every interaction that we make. Thinking this way can make you go a little crazy, because really there is so much missed opportunity, and the worst of it is that we will never know what we have never had. Not all is loom and gloom however, because sometimes we don’t miss our opportunity, sometimes we find people that we work well with.
It is important to let this sit in the back of your mind, to keep it as a reference whenever we are with others. Once we recognize the fact that there is so much missed potential, then we can work towards minimizing that loss. I am guilty of it, especially lately, of not trying very hard to truly connect with others, and to connect with new people. It can be hard sometimes to go out of your way to speak with others, to try and form true connections. There are also those who are content, those who do not think it necessary to try and form these new relationships.
At the end of the day we are still primates, we crave social interaction on our most basic of levels and I think it’s important that we maximize the quality of that interaction. Even if one feels like they are content, or it is not worth the effort, this really is one of the most fundamental aspects of a human life. What a shame it would be to just accept things the way that they are, and never look to see if it can ever be any better. From now on I am going to try harder to get out there, to get as much potential out of the relationships that I keep, or look to keep. I encourage all to do the same, and hope that one day we all find those that can help us live a fuller life.