If I have learned anything from my gravely ill patients, it would be to never underestimate the purpose and/or lesson of meeting someone, if only for a brief moment. And as my friend Mike reminded me recently, “We don’t meet people by accident – they are meant to cross our path for a reason.”
Last year, I coached a Toastmaster Club with my friend Katherine. Among many new young members who had joined the club was a petite young lady from Pakistan. The day Farima gave her first speech I knew she was a born leader. She exuded inner strength, conviction and resilience. Later in our conversations, I learned that she is an executive assistant for an Immigration Centre here in Winnipeg which helps newcomers to Canada to settle and find employment, a subject dear to my heart. Once an immigrant myself, I understand the challenges faced by newcomers. My conversation with Farima led to an invitation for me to speak to the leaders of the organization.
It was last Friday that I met the group (see picture above). As I walked into the room, I realized that my audience consisted of people of many different backgrounds, cultures, races and belief systems. There were people from South America, the Middle East (such as Syria and Iran), Asia (China, Japan and Korea), Central Asia (Afghanistan), and several African countries, as well as Canada and the USA.
“Life, you do have a sense of humour!’ I thought. ‘How in the world will I be able to reach each one of them with my message?” The whole world was represented in that room. I decided to speak my truth, the very truth that I have learned from my dying patients. I spoke from my heart.
And by the attention of the group, nodding heads, tear-filled eyes and a variety of facial expressions, I knew my words were touching my listeners. I conveyed my message: “The Power of You”.
I strongly believe that there is always an exchange of gifts when people meet, provided that they are open to each other. What I received from the group last Friday was an Unexpected Gift, a message of Hope.
The message was this: if we are willing to put our differences aside, and seek our similarities, we might in the process discover Unity, a Unity based on our shared humanity and a common cause. In addition, it seems to me that we might inadvertently discover that deep, deep inside ourselves we are far more alike than we are different. 