The Kindness of Strangers

I went back to my old Secondary School with a friend yesterday. It was quite surreal being there but I'm so glad I went with her. As soon as I parked my car and stood scanning the buildings and fields, so many memories came rushing back. The lawns were still nicely manicured and the main building as imposing as ever.

Being there took me back to a time when I had to wear a garish bottle green uniform (which if I'm honest I didn't mind so much - I just hated the grey tights with black shoes!). I eventually graduated to wearing a suit (for 6th form), which was also a pain as I would question which one to wear every morning and longed to have my uniform back!

I remembered going to lessons, looking forward to PE, going on school trips, the times I was a boarder, meeting friends on the weekend, day dreaming about the future... To say I was having a nostalgic moment would be an understatement! I thought about my younger self and all of the things I would tell her if I could go back in time like;

"there is life outside these walls but it won't be what you're expecting so cherish this time".

[There's quite a lot I'd tell my younger self but I'll reserve that post for another day]

I got to see a few of my old teachers - the one's that were left anyway as so many had retired or moved on. They were happy to see me and eager to hear what I was up to nowadays. My favourite teacher was still there and it was great catching up with her. One of my old English teachers said something so lovely to me, and to her class about me that I almost teared up - and I don't cry randomly!

Her words gave me such a rush. They reiterated my belief that writing is what I am meant to be doing and left me safe in the knowledge that turning down my training contract (it's a legal thing) wasn't as crazy as others might think. Writing is what I'm passionate about and what makes me happy. It's not always possible for you to love what you do whilst others derive pleasure from it so for that I'm really thankful.

But back to the point of this post. While my friend and I walked around school, we were looking for a particular teacher and asked some students. They were really kind and pointed us in her direction. They walked there with us and made conversation which they really didn't have to do considering we were strangers to them.

It reminded me of another 'stranger' I got talking to earlier in the week when I went to the cinema. I'll generally talk to anyone and I find that when I'm alone, people have a tendancy to get chatting to me as I'm always smiling. To cut a long story short, the 'stranger' is no longer a stranger to me and has helped me more in the space of 4 days then people I've known for years.

Ever since I took my mood and therefore my life into my own hands and made a decision to be happy, I find that I've been meeting people who are ready and willing to help me along my journey. People who contribute to as opposed to dimish or take, take, take, take from my life. It's part of the reason I continue to smile - afterall, what real reason do I have not to?

I'm not sure if I'd call the helpful stranger a 'friend' in the real sense of the word quite yet, but I really appreciate them and would definitely advise giving people a chance. Not every random weirdo person who strikes up a conversation with you, wants something from you. You never know, they might just give you the energy boost you've been needing.

But...not wanting any harm to come to my readers, I suggest you exercise caution by not giving away personal information. If the weirdo person does exhibit 'crazy' tendancies, stop talking and run (or briskly walk) for the hills!

"Strangers are friends you have yet to meet!"

Met any interesting strangers lately?