Blessed by the Opulence of Others

Have you ever noticed how our planet is populated by a variety of human beings? All humans share similarities as well as differences. 

We were all created with heads, shoulders, knees, toes, eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, but no two people are exactly alike. Instead, we can’t help but display our extraordinary and unique physical and intrinsic traits. 

On any given day, I bump up against, rub shoulders with, and share the same airspace with the elderly and the young; the lean and the stout; the cynical and the optimistic.

Each person I encounter carries their own story I haven’t read. They have a history that shaped the way they laugh, walk, talk, and hold their beliefs. Each one will hand me something I didn’t have before, if I am receptive to receiving.

Some gifts arrive as small nudges from strangers. For instance, watching a swimmer in the lane next to mine, I notice they are practicing drills. I’m inspired and switch from just swimming the same laps over and over to practicing drills as well. 

 Other gifts run deeper, such as the conversation I had with a friend that led me to appreciate her more. She told me how she is advocating for someone who is in the hospital. She’s become the link between family members who cannot be present and the hospital. 

 At a Toastmasters meeting last night, one of the members who’d been gone for a while returned. His youthful zeal brought fresh energy to our meeting. 

This is the opulence I mean. Not wealth measured in things, but the richness that comes from being surrounded by people who are not copies of me. Every person I brush up against is, in his or her own quiet way, a gift to me. I didn’t ask anything of them. As they live their unique selves, my life is enriched. 

Why bother?

Why bother being blessed by the opulence of others? A closed door lets nothing in. None of these people — the swimmer, my friend, the man at Toastmasters — intended to teach me anything. I simply choose to be open to receiving from them.

Opulence that comes from others is something we can notice and accept. The same attention that lets someone else enrich my life is what makes me, without trying, become a possible gift to theirs.

Stay curious. Stay open. It costs nothing, but benefits everyone.