LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL

Our parents always told us when we were children not to talk to strangers, but if you stop and think about it, we've been doing the exact opposite our whole lives. Now, before you say anything, I do realize that little nugget of wisdom our parents imparted to us was for our own protection, to save us from pedophiles promising us candy as they drove past in rickety vans. But that same piece of advice sticks with us through our whole life. We can very easily just coast through life and avoid the people around us. We all live within our own sphere of influence, and it would be very easy not to expand it and incorporate the lives of others in the world around us.

If we strictly followed that advice though, how many people would there be in our lives? Every person we encounter - every potential friend, every potential boy or girlfriend - starts out as a stranger in some capacity. They may have a mutual friend and that is how they are introduced, but in that initial first meeting, where that first impression is often so crucial, they are a stranger.

I guess this question really needs to be better defined. What do you consider a stranger? Is it anyone you haven't met? People you don't know? It's important to think about, because if a stranger encompasses anyone you do not know, even if you've heard of them, then by saying it's not okay to engage in conversation with strangers we're also saying it's most unwise to meet people at all. Then our sphere of influence would be minuscule, limited mainly to our families.

We live in a small world, but at the same time it is incredibly vast and filled to the brim with millions upon millions of lives that could intersect with our own at any time. How can we expect to live life to the fullest without taking the chance to experience interactions with others?

Yes, there will always be people you will walk away from wishing you had never met. You will wonder why you took the time to talk to them, to get to know them, to become embroiled in their affairs... but the experience is always worth it. Every interaction ultimately becomes one small jigsaw piece in the puzzle that is your life.

Think about the one person who has made the greatest impact upon your life outside of your family. At one point, you surely did not know them. They were a stranger to you. Imagine what your life would have been life without them.

Friendships begin with a single conversation. The next time you're confronted with the opportunity to carry on a conversation with a complete stranger, stick around. Talk. Be wary, yes (there are psychopaths out there, after all), but see what happens. You never know what lessons you'll learn, what great and sometimes totally off-the-wall experiences you'll have, or what truly great friends you might meet.