-Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Last year on July 28, by the time we boarded our plane in Miami, my friends and I had already been on two previous flights. After waking at 3 a.m. in Venice, we flew to
Madrid and from there to Miami, where we were thrust into a sea of
gridlocked humans. Everyone was trying to get to a baggage
claim area that was in direct opposition to where they were standing. Bodies were pressed together in one
chaotic, slow-moving crawl. It seemed as though there were people from every country in the
world crammed into one big room, all mumbling "What a mess!" in their own language.
I couldn't calculate the number of hours I'd been awake because my
brain had already fallen into a state of deep sleep, two time zones
back. Forced to function, I was cordial to the man already seated next
to the window in aisle three. When I saw him take a picture of the view outside, I immediately knew that he was "on Twitter" but felt too weary to make mention of it.
A
few polite comments from this man with a soothing voice and honest eyes
woke me up and within a few minutes, I learned that Stefan Pinto was
moving to Los Angeles as a part of his plan. A fitness
writer/model/actor and a yoga teacher have a lot in common, we found.
But what most occupied our conversation was our shared belief in the
magical order of our lives. We agreed that happenstance occurs quite
regularly for us. As if to prove it, Stefan's meal came with mashed
sweet potatoes, about an hour after we'd talked about its health
benefits and the article he'd just written.
We
exchanged Twitter addresses and looked at pictures stored on each
others phones. When we said goodbye in Los Angeles, I remember saying
to him, "Have a great life". Partly because I didn't think I'd see him
again but mainly because I saw him doing just that! He exuded a
positive future. As they say, there are no successful cynics.
Since
that day,we cheer and applaud each others efforts almost daily. Last
week he mentioned writing an article about his encounter with the Repo
man and I voiced, "I hope you'll speak of the Repo Man inside us too.
The one that tries to take back our dreams just because we're late." He did, and gave me credit for the inspiration.
An
exuberant man once told me, "I've got lots of friends out there, I just
haven't met them yet" and that's what happened on July 28, 2009. Two
friends met each other on American Airlines, flight 231 going from
Miami to LAX. All it took was a little recognition and I was charmed,
for sure. It makes me wonder how many other friends are out there, for
all of us. My exuberant friend insists, "Go meet your friends, hurry up
before they leave!"
~~~~~
"How to Charm the Repo Man" by Stefan Pinto
Photo: Fashion Images, via Pinto Factory