#Connections December 6
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I heard something this past week that is true in my life. We all have very strong direct CONNECTIONS to people in our lives. Examples would be family and our closest friends.
We also have distant, faint, and often indirect CONNECTIONS to people. What I found interesting is it often the faint relationships not the strong ones are more likely to provide us new opportunities in our lives.
I can use many examples in my life. In 1977 our basketball team at UNC Pembroke (then Pembroke State) was hosting and scrimmaging Lenoir-Rhyne. They came down on a Friday night and we began playing on Saturday morning. Lenoir Rhyne was coached by the late Bobby Hodges.
I had never met Bobby before that day even though both of us were East Carolina University grads and had been part of the basketball programs during our undergrad days.
Prior to the scrimmage I asked both coaching staffs if they needed anything from the store. Coach Hodges asked for a pack of cigarettes and pack of nabs. I got them for him and I refused to let him pay for those items. Our paths did not cross much over the next three years but he always recognized me.
In 1980 I was on my honeymoon when Bobby Hodges got a phone call from one of his former players at Frederick College which is now the site of Tidewater Community College in Portsmouth VA. That player was Steve Cottrell who was Head Coach at Western Carolina University. Steve was looking a assistant coach and Bobby Hodges recommended me. Steve Cottrell called me and I went to Western Carolina 9 days after I was married all because of a faint CONNECTION. I have other examples in my life.
What each of us should remember is going out of our way in our daily routines exposes us to new CONNECTIONS. Small changes to our routines can often afford us those encounters. If left to our default settings we will only stay connected to our strong relationships and avoid creating new ones. That is missing out on new opportunities.
It is the faint CONNECTIONS that lead us to new places and new opportunities.
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