Another chance meeting?

The day after I met the man from California on the bench watching the sailboats (read yesterday's post) I met another man from California at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He was a park ranger, probably pushing 60. I learned that his wife, who couldn’t have any children, died years ago. He had remembered that as a boy, one of his dreams was to become a park ranger. So, about a year after his beloved passed away, he applied to the National Park Service. He was a successful businessman but this dream, which had been dormant for years, called to him. So off to Alaska he went on his first job as a park ranger. He loved Alaska. It was a piece of heaven. Breathtakingly beautiful. Wished he would have went back for a second year. After Alaska, he worked in Virginia and eventually ended up in Washington, where he has worked for the past five years. Listening to him describe his dream and his journey, you could see the passion and excitement in his eyes. He was living his dream. It had taken him many years to realize, and there were many twists and turns along the way. But he finally was doing something he had always wanted to do. And he was bursting with pride and happiness. (In case you’re wondering, he did talk to me about the monument, which is why he was there in the first place. I just happened to be the only person who was there to listen and like any good journalist, asked tons of questions. I can’t help myself, I guess.)

Our meeting was chance, or was it?

For the second day in a row I had met a man who shared a piece of his life with a complete stranger. As I walked away from both men, thanking them for sharing their stories, it occurred to me that each had a message. For the first man, it was about not quitting, not giving up. For the second man, it was about following your dreams. Two powerful, uplifting messages that gave me hope.

Have you had chance meetings like this? People you meet and afterward you think: “I was supposed to meet this person today.”

I think about all of the people I have met through this blog and other sites, and I feel blessed that we are able to help each other on our literary journeys. Yes, we get down. Yes, we feel like giving up some days. But we won’t because we can’t. Like the first man, quitting is not an option. And like the second man, we must follow our dreams.

I want to thank each of you who visit my blog every day and give me hope and encouragement.

A chance meeting?

I sat on a bench to watch some sailboats and chatted with a man sitting on a nearby bench. I learned that he was born in 1926 in California to a Chinese father (who came here to seek a medical education but was told that even if he completed the course work would not be awarded the degree because he was a foreigner) and American mother (who taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Minnesota). He told me how horrible it was growing up a “half-breed.” He said that he and his siblings were tormented and ridiculed. The wounds might have healed, but it was evident the scars had remained. He told me about his wife, who had died, and his children. He told me how he walks five miles in the morning and rides his scooter in the afternoon. How his grandkids spend most of their time in front of a computer playing games with people all over the world. He marveled at that. At one point he just stopped and looked at me and said: “Why am I telling you all of this.” I just smiled, and he kept going. He talked about the jobs he held and the businesses he owned. He told me how he failed over and over again but just kept going. “You don’t fail unless you quit,” he said. We talked some more and when he left I had to smile. Our meeting was chance, or was it?

I believe that people are put in our lives for a reason. I needed to hear his message: “You don’t fail unless you quit.” I’ve been feeling a little down lately, wondering if I should hang it up and concentrate on other things. I know that we all feel like this from time to time. Truth is, I don’t want to keep trying to get over the wall if there’s no way I’m going to be successful. Maybe there’s another wall for me. I read a book recently in which the author said that it’s all right to quit. That successful people are quitters. They quit what they are not good at to focus on what they are. For example, I might try playing the violin and learn that it’s just not the right instrument for me. So maybe I try the flute and find that I’m more successful playing the flute. I quit the violin to find something that I’m better at. And if it’s not playing the flute, maybe it’s playing a sport or writing. What do you think? Are people successful because they quit those things they were not good at? And when do you know that you aren’t good at something? Are rejections the yardstick by which we measure? I’d love to hear your thoughts on all of this. It’s been rolling around in my brain and I’m trying to make sense of it all.