The Impact of a Stranger's Love

Today, I stumbled across a YouTube video titled "Who's One Stranger That You Still Remember?". As I watched those reflect on their memories of a passerby, I got to thinking about the strangers that have left an impact on my life to this day. I often come across many amazing and caring individuals given that I've spent a lot of time in the hospital surrounded by nurses, surgeons and even other patients. My person happened to be a nurse who was setting up my procedure for my second heart biopsy. From the moment I had seen her she gave me the warmest smile. While I was on the table, they decided to not give me any sort of sedative. As my surgeon began to place the catheter into a vein in my neck, it was far more painful than the last time. Knowing that this catheter was inching toward the inside of my heart sparked a panic attack. I started to shake and cry, trying to hide it as much as possible. I refuse to cry in front of others if I can help it. There have been many times where I've had to hold it together in doctors' offices and in the car ride home until I had privacy. But this time was different. When the nurse noticed that I was crying, she grabbed my hand. Seeing the look on her face, full of empathy for my situation made me completely lose it for lack of better terms. I started wailing with cries that came from my stomach and wouldn't cease. I've only cried like this three times in my life. This was my most vulnerable state. The last thing I ever want is for people to feel bad for me because of this. While I've come to the conclusion is that this is unavoidable when I'm open about my experience, it's still something that makes me uncomfortable. But for some reason, this woman's empathy didn't feel tinged with pity as it normally does. In a weird way it felt like she was feeling my own emotional pain with me. She gave me the space to feel all of my emotions as they were in that very moment rather than attempting to avoid them until I was alone.

You never know how a small interaction or gesture can resonate with someone who needs it in that moment. It was that nurse's simple touch that gave me permission to grieve. This was my "face down in the arena" moment, but she made me feel like I didn't have to try to hide that from everyone in that room. And while I know that it's not easy for everyone to reach out to a complete stranger and show compassion and vulnerability to them - trust me, it's out of my comfort zone too - it's always worth it. The main goal is simply to help others the best way you can. And if you focus on that goal instead of your own reservations about reaching out to someone, you'll find that your small gesture meant a whole lot more than you'd think. Even on a minuscule scale like making conversation with your clerk while she's ringing up your groceries, giving a stranger a compliment, holding the door open for someone, or thanking others. It all matters. Positive interactions with strangers can carry us throughout a tough day. Living through love and showing compassion for every living being you connect with is essential to maintain our sense of humanity. Love isn't something that we only give to those we're close with. It's expression is meant to be reflected to everyone and everything that we come in contact with. It's a simple intention that shows others that they matter. With acting through love, we can heal each other and connect in such an impactful way that it can become a pivotal point in someone's life as my nurse was for me.