Strangers are Friends, Just Waiting to Happen

It's early Monday morning and I got up early to go over the weekend and to thank God for everything good and (not-so-good) that had taken place.
When I recount all that had taken place in my life I am overwhelmed at how seemingly simple, yet so complex, life is.
I would like to share with you a bit of the good.
On Friday night our guest speaker, Michel (pronounced Michele) Neray, the National Speaker Association President from Toronto, Canada dined with Raeus (NSAT President) and I. That was just the beginning.
Michel spoke at our meeting on Saturday morning, and then he was going back with Raeus to Knoxville (2 1/2 hours away from Nashville) to see that part of Tennessee. THAT was the plan.
No one had anticipated the gas scare, and the escalating cost of gas that was to follow.
So Michel was stranded in Nashville, looking for things to do.
The stage: Nashville:
The actors: people who had met the night before OR were about to meet and become friends
The time: now and forever
Stage left. In walks Sandy
Since Nashville has become my stage I knew that I could be in this production.
On Saturday afternoon I met Michel on the main street in Nashville: Broadway. (Now he can honestly tell people that he was on Broadway in the United States).
Michel and I walked the length of the stage and met as many actors as we could. We watched musicians, chatted with them and admired their art. Some that I had met before shared their art with us and gave us their cd's as gifts.
We had fun BUT the best was yet to come.
We met up with my girlfriend Lane Brody (http://www.lanebrody.com/) to grab a bite to eat and then head back to Broadway. Or so we thought.
This stage: a cozy Greek restaurant called Yanni's; outside on the back porch that had a garden-like feel.
The food: delectable items that Lane ordered (she's Greek) with names that I cannot begin to pronounce.
The actors: Lane, Michel,; my girlfriends: Karen Shayne and Katie Combs and me
The climax of the evening: great conversation, friends, love
We sat on that stage for the duration of the evening; most everyone having met each other for the first time. But that didn't matter.
It was a perfect evening: wine, laughter, great food, friends who now consider each other family, and love
And the greatest of these is love.
We are such a fast-paced society that we feel like we have to keep going and everything that we do had to be on a grandeur scale. After a while the well is dry; we have nothing left to give.
But enter a stage with 'real' people and fill the well up one drop at a time: enjoy every chuckle, savor the taste of every bite of food, every sip of wine, store in your heart every look that passes between new friends that are now connected at the heart - regardless of demographics, touch the arm of your hard-working server, and just drink in the gift that you have been given.
My weekend might sound boring to the fast-paced, jet-setting group; to those that have the need to be in The Scene part of the newspaper. But to those that value connecting to others hearts...ahhh!
This weekend was a slice of heaven!


If you would like to walk on my journey with me, and learn more about who I am, please go to my website www.sandygriffin.com and sign up for my free newsletter and a free article.