Even Strangers Need a Friend

“There can be no greater or simpler ambition than to be a friend.” –Mark Nepo

Two weeks ago, I was on a flight from Chicago to Philadelphia. I settled into my middle seat with two small books purchased at the airport—those two details in themselves are strange—I never select a middle seat, and I rarely purchase two books at the airport.

I began reading. From my peripheral vision I noticed the young woman sitting in the window seat kept opening and closing the shade and then cradled her head in her hands. She repeated the same routine every couple of minutes. I stopped reading for a minute, and she turned to me and asked, “Do you fly frequently?” “Yes”, I answered. She shared how petrified she was of flying; her anxiety was through the ceiling. BINGO—so that was why she kept opening and closing the shade. She said she was afraid the engines would catch on fire and we would crash. Anxiety sure has a way of wrapping us up in fear.

As a person, who knows anxiety well, I immediately became a friend to a stranger. I spoke to her about fears and anxiety as I held her hand and assured her we would land safely. Then it occurred to me that the other book I had purchased was a pocket guide on Feeling Secure. Wasn’t that interesting—I had no idea what made me even pick up that guide, I gifted her the pocket guide.

Then two days ago when I spoke to an executive from Mexico he shared a new term with me widely used in his country— “Godincidence.” It’s clear now why I had the middle seat and why I purchased the pocket guide.

Reflective Question: What “Godincidence” have you noticed lately?

Carol blogs weekly at www.hopetocope.com – if you would like to subscribe to her posts, you can get her RSS feed here by right clicking and selecting “Copy Link Address”, then adding it to your favorite feed reader. This post originally appeared in the Hope Blog on May 20, 2012.

By Admin | Published in: Featured, In The Media, Mental Health | Tags: anxiety, godincidence, guidance, security, strangers on a plane