At some point in just about every relationship I’ve had, someone I’ve known for a while randomly tells me a story that I’ve never heard before. In the past they’ve omitted this story because either they think it’s not a big deal, they don’t like to talk about themselves, that I wouldn’t care about it, or all of the above.
However, because I’ve known them for a while and have never heard the story, it comes to quite a surprise and is quite interesting, sometimes it’s the most fascinating thing I’ve heard them say.
The other day I was around a colleague of mine whom I’m getting to know, a holistic practitioner of sorts. We’ve had several conversations and I thought I had a pretty good feel for who they are and what they do because most of our conversations have centered around those topics and not a whole lot of new information has come to light.
Until yesterday.
We had a few brief conversations and then I overheard them say to someone else that they partner with other practitioners to go to the cancer ward and volunteer their time to give free therapy sessions to cancer patients. As soon as I heard that I instantly changed both my opinion and my interest level in that person. Wow! What a great idea and what a great story.
Now I’m certainly not advocating that you go out and perform good deeds as a PR stunt ala the politician who always has a camera around while he shakes hands and kisses babies, but by all means if you have a compelling story, don’t be selfish, share it with others. You never know who will connect with it and better yet, you never know who will want to become part of the story.