The People You Almost Met

Every day you pass hundreds of people you will never know. Some of them would have become important to you — the friend who understands you without explanation, the stranger whose offhand comment rearranges your thinking, the person sitting three seats away who is reading the same book.

Connection is strange because it depends so heavily on proximity and timing. The people who matter most to you matter partly because you happened to be in the same place at the same time. This is not a sad thought. It is a reminder that the next important person in your life might be someone you have not spoken to yet.

Say hello a little more often. The odds are better than you think.