Happiness is Unexpected Connections

I used to be afraid of surprises. In my old way of thinking, surprises meant something bad: change for the worse, a deviation from my plans, or a new player in my life who was going to cause me trouble.

Now I call in wonderful surprises every morning before I get out of bed. Bring them on, I say. The more magical, the more miraculous the better.

Recently, my circle has been growing again on the business front. I’ve had a good feeling about someone, what I call a God feeling (good feeling, god feeling, get it?), and I run with it. We start out talking business, and then the magic happens. One comment or question during a business conversation blows the door open to an unexpected connection. I’ve discovered connections to my old career of rebuilding war zones to spiritual connections, and it’s made me say, aha!, I knew there was something about that person. We were brought together for a reason.

Happiness is unexpected connections.

How often have we heard someone say they felt a person was a kindred spirit? I know I have felt it many times and hope to feel it many more. In the beginning, you may not know why the person strikes you so, but as you come to know the person better, you realize what you’d been sensing: commonality, similar ways of thinking, and a mutual sharing of a particular experience.

Nothing makes me happier than when I discover this kind of unexpected connection in my business circles because let’s face it, there’s no need to put business in a small box of rules and “unfun” where nothing special and magical can enter. I want all my relationships to have fullness of life and meaning. They make me happy.

What have been those unexpected connections for you? Have they lasted forever or only for a season or a day? How happy were you when you discovered all that you had in common?

I met a man on a trip to Istanbul many years ago, and with him, I felt that special spark of connection. I don’t even remember his name now, but I remember our connection. And in case you are thinking it was romantic, you’d be wrong. We both took a boat ride together on the Bosphoros and talked about traveling and other things I can’t recall anymore. But I’ve never forgotten him. He was an unexpected connection in a place very far away from home. He said that meeting people on the road is like eating an ice cream cone: marvelous while it lasts. I’ve loved that image ever sense.

So, call in with me more of those ice-cream-cone moments or those forever moments through unexpected connections. They’ll add to your happiness factor, I promise.

 

Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net