Sometimes I look at the world around me and wish I could go back in time. I see the culture of today and the way things are heading, the people sitting together in silence with their headphones plugged into their ears, the way everybody is isolated in separate electronic worlds, and I wish I belonged to another time. An older, simpler, friendlier time.
I've heard so many stories of small-town life in my grandparents' and great-grandparents' times, when everyone knew everyone and people took time to stop and talk to each other. When you went to the store and chatted with the lady behind the counter, and everyone wasn't in such a rush to get through their days.
Introverted as I am, there's something so simple and charming about plain old friendly socializing. Not because you're trying to make a life-long friend, not because you're necessarily ever going to talk to or even see this person again, but because you're two people whose lives have connected for a minute, two minutes, an hour, and why shouldn't you ask them what their weekend was like? Why shouldn't you give them a compliment? Why shouldn't you take a second to let them know that they're worth stepping out of your own head/phone/busy schedule, even for just a friendly word? Even for just a smile?
I don't live in an older, simpler time. I live in 2019. Whether I like it or not, this is the world God has placed me in, and He did it for a reason. I want to be more intentional in shining to those around me. I want to talk to the person that sits next to me on the bus, even though that person may not feel the need to chat, even though my introvert alert may be going off like a siren, even though we could just sit in silence and mind our own business until we go our separate ways.
Reaching out, talking to people, taking time to listen . . . it can be uncomfortable. Old-fashioned. Even awkward.
But at the end of the day, it's important. Worthwhile. And the truth is, the world needs more of it.