A stranger advice that change my thinking.

When I was young, my mum often remind me and my siblings not to talk to strangers. I believe my mum was not the only one apparently many parents do this as to safeguard us from bad people. Who know what goes in the mind of the strangers. Ironically, you do hear children being abuse in the hands of someone whom the parents trusted and sometimes even from their own family members. However this is not my thought for today.

Yesterday my friend Audrey introduce us a person whom I am not familiar with through our watsapp group chat. A person whom supposedly turn around his life from being homeless to a self made millionaire. Well by definition, a stranger is define as a person who one does not know or with whom one is not familiar. So this person by the name of Garrain Jones is a stranger to me even though he is mention to me by my friend. At least with the introduction, I would gain some level of trust and open to listen to him.

Who is Garrain Jones ? He is a wellness coach. He shared, one day how a homeless person just like him asked him for money , and the stranger had a wad of money held in his hands. Garrain replied. “ It looks like you have more money than me. At that point the stranger looked at him and said “ Change your mindset, change you life”. That statement stopped him to experience a conscious interrupt. There was a short circuit moment happening in his usual thinking pattern. It was the right moment, the right circumstances and the right spoken words. Because of that stranger piercing advice, his life began to take a radical turnaround. Today Garrain Jones is inspiring thousands of people about living with passion and how to attain financial freedom. Imagine that a stanger advice that change his thinking and ripple the effect through space and time.

Have you ever experience this before, when someone said something to you and suddenly it all makes sense at that moment in time? Well it did happen to me too and here is ny story.

One day as I was finding solace at a bar after a stressful day at work, I met an elderly but sturdy 60 over year old man. He is an Australian name Steve , he is an ex Navy force whom retired and he built himself a sailboat and travel round the world in it, alone.

I happen to strike an interesting conversation with this stranger and learned of many of his travelling adventures. He now spend most of his time in Phalawan island and he even adopter a family there. This is the first I have heard someone actually adopt a whole family which he support them financially. We chatted how he was able to do what he do. He openly told me he have houses rented out in Australia so it is enough to go by and does some errand if needed. I ask weather he afraid of travelling alone, being in a foreign place and etc. During our conversation, while clutching his beer mug, he looked me straight in my eyes and said, "life is short, live it well, without fear". Wow! that statement was like my emotional pow wow moment , I was knock off from all the bullsxxt I was telling myself. I needed to hear those words at that right moment, right circumstances and the right spoken words. It seems that this unexpected stranger taught me something insightful that night. That was my only encounter with him then. After that night, I learn most of the time fear is being exaggerated many times over in our head even before the event happen.

Case in point, when was the last time you went to a dentist? Did you notice, you may have cringe at the very thought of that. Imagining the high pitch dental drill exploring your teeth and long needle injection piercing your gum. Ouch! Ok, you got my point. That all happen in your head even the event have not taken place at all.

Did you notice you may given out thousands of advice before but because it was not the right moment, the right circumstances, thoese words fall on deaf ears. It does not cause a conscious interrupt. It does not cause that person to change his way of thinking. One of the reason, could be due to our familiarity with that person and he would have a preconceived idea of who you are. Whether you worthy to give advice. Where else a stranger seems mysterious and no form of preconceive notion about that person. We tend to be more observant and curious to find out more.

My take from all this experience is that:-

1.) Stop giving advices because it usually fall on deaf ears. You need the right moment, right circumstances and the right words to say.

2.) Be willing and open to hear about other people stories, you may be surprise to learn the many insighful life lessons.

3.) Share your story and perhaps it could cause a positive rippling effect in the universe. You never know how your story can cause a major shift in someone else life today.

Have a great day ahead.