The Little Things Give You Away

Sometimes you make little, seemingly insignificant decisions that bring about really nice things in life.

I rode my bike today for the first time in a really long time--I'd missed the feeling of the cool air rushing past my face as I sped through the town under the evening sky. I've always enjoyed solo sunset bike rides in Little Elm. They provide for some nice solitary time to just think about things, and listening to epic music as I ride through the abandoned park after nightfall makes me feel as if I'm in some kind of adventure story. So I decided to take advantage of the free time I'm convincing myself I have right now (when I should be studying for two CBE's I need to pass within two weeks in order to graduate) to dust off my bike from the garage, put in my earphones, and take off.

When I got to the next street over, though, I saw the father of an old friend of mine working in his garage. I kept riding past him to the end of the street, and then I came to a stop. Why not just say hi? I hadn't really seen him in a long time, and at one point in my life (seven years ago) he was literally like a second father to me. Yes, it would be kind of a hassle. I would have to pause the music and put my earphones up to give a semi-awkward "hello" from behind him to talk for what would probably be like ten seconds. But it could be a nice conversation, I thought to myself. I supposed I may as well just say hi quickly.

So I turned around to ride back to his house, and I said hello. After talking about ten seconds, he suggested I say hi to my old friend, who was inside. So I put down my bike and walked into the house that I hadn't entered for about four years or so.

We ended up talking for over an hour. He'd just completed his freshman year in college, majoring in architecture at Texas Tech, and so we took a while to catch up. It'd been nearly a year since even any textual communication between us, and it was nice to sit and talk and laugh with him again in his living room, just as I'd done daily six years ago. It's crazy how time passes.

Eventually we said goodbye and I continued on my bike ride, but we'd had a great time catching up with one another, swapping stories of high school and college and more. And that simply would not have happened were it not for my little decision to just say hi to his dad. It's funny how little things happen like that sometimes. How many opportunities are missed because we don't take the opportunity to just stop and say hello?

Just something to think about.