The biggest risk ever
Thursday, March 29, 2007 at 9:40PM You may have taken risks in your time, but I wonder how far you'd be willing to push the envelope? The chances you take often fuel the most memorable stories you'll share later in this life or other lifetimes if you come to recall those. Its no surprise that people often find the effort to take chances and go after what is heart and soul-driven is worth far more than any associated regret or 'what ifs' would offer.
As for me, I've taken many risks. They're the reasons why my life is so exhilarating. The story I choose to share now represents one of the biggest risks I ever took. Another person took it with me. An excerpt is published in a March 2007 book by Keen Publications called "Grab Your Tiger." Reflecting back, from the moment I recall risk is illusion, a distortion of mind, I see all I do, I do for me. Its the faith we are each invited to reconnect with that reminds us we are always whole.
Not too long ago, I met a man briefly on a bus in Florida while I visited Orlando for a conference. We impulsively shared dinner and conversation. The next day, the man boarded a plane to head back home. You might think our story ended. Well, it didn't. We had hit it off and a distance romance ensued. The experience was anything but ordinary. After all, he truly lived on the other side of the world.
Over the next month and a half, regular e-mails and large phone bills evolved. We even wrote a special electronic book together and he edited my draft of an inspirational book which will soon be published. I wrote him more than 500 letters (card stories inside cards) and posted them to his office (I didn't know his post box). I was told the office girls got a kick out of the stamps? The nature of our vast communications soon prompted him to take the chance of his life. While nearly falling asleep on the phone one night, he blurted out,
"Would you meet me for coffee in Paris?” He knew I planned a spring trip to Europe with my sister.
“That’s a long way to travel from Australia when I only have 3 days in Paris,” I replied, thinking he must've been joking.
He told me he'd been saving for a new stereo, but the trip of 16, 808km would be his preferred investment. I was flattered, but my ticket and travel dates were unchangeable. I suggested we could meet at another time when we both had more time, but he had never been to Europe and decided his work schedule would allow it about when I was traveling. Why would you say? I told him if he came to Paris, I would gladly give him a scenic tour. After all, I'd lived there and knew the area.
Now, if you don't believe in guardian angels, you might change your mind after this story. A few days after that Paris conversation, I received a curious phone call from an airline. A technical glitch in my booking had caused the airline to cancel my tickets. After I got over my initial shock, I managed to negotiate a return ticket 5 days later that the initial plan. Then, I emailed Australia.
The response I received was, “Italy?”
My reply was, “Need you ask?!”
I suggested some key stops for what was planned as a romantic, 8-day train trip (2500km) through France, Switzerland and Italy. When all was said and done, we planned to meet at the Gare du Nord in Paris on a particular date. That day was definitely something to look forward to, or was it?
Now, before the big day, the last time I'd been to Gare du Nord, I hadn't recalled four exits on separate floors. Yet, on arrival, that's what I discovered. Better still, I had been stuck in traffic a half hour in a friend's car in terrible traffic and I had no mobile. Imagine my state of mind upon arriving at the train station 40 minutes late to meet a man who had just travelled 14 hours to meet a woman he'd met in person one evening for dinner and one morning for breakfast? Who was taking the bigger risk? Him scaring friends with his impulsive travel spending or me being so inexcusably late?
This in mind, wouldn't you assume that I would have to negotiate my way through the barrier by way of French policemen because my electronic ticket wasn't working? Wouldn't you assume that I would find no functional pay phone to contact my weary traveller? When I did find a crackly phone, I discovered I'd forgotten the number back at my friend's apartment! If you never believed in Murphy's Law, this day would change your mind on that. Nonetheless, patience and faith saved the day. After all that, he recognized me by the back of my hair and my familiar orange dress.
"I was beginning to wonder if the stereo would've been a better choice, but I'm glad I waited."
"So am I."
"You know, until now I'd never waited 45 min for anyone. Risks can really pay off!"
http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2007/9/8/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up.html
http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2008/2/18/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up-2.html
http://blog.dreambuilders.com.au/journal/2008/7/26/the-biggest-risk-ever-follow-up-3.html
This story is the foundation for my first book, Self-Disclosure: Changes from Within.
Reader Comments (8)
Cya
I relate so much to your story my insides are dancing.