This week I received a message out of the blue that made my summer.
Rewind to a year and a half ago. A friend was bringing her son to Atlanta to go compete in his first fencing tournament at GA Tech. We chatted and I told them to come by as I had some fencing gear and books which were collecting dust.
When they came by, I talked to him about fencing and his club and then I gave him some gear and books. Somewhere in there I think there was some advice thrown in.
To me, this was basic kindness. I had things to share and I offered up what I could to help a new fencer get started.
Fast-forward to today. I received a note thanking me for helping him along his path to discovering fencing. What got me was this: “I know it may not seem like you did a lot, but you were an essential part of my journey.”
That floored me.
I wasn’t trying to be an inspiration. I wasn’t looking for affirmation or any kind of emotional pay-back. I was just doing what was done for me when I was getting into fencing.
“you were an essential part of my journey”
There’s no better compliment than that.
Every day we have opportunities to be kind, share, and help others.
In work, at school, at the practice field we all have opportunities to share and teach others.
Take those opportunities and give of yourself. You never know which one of those interactions is going to come back months or years later as the source of inspiration for someone else’s journey.