Sometimes Courage Looks Very Small: A Small Shift at the Airport
Is She the Same Woman?
I’m at the airport in Reno on a Monday morning after a conference weekend at Lake Tahoe.
I think the woman at the next table eating breakfast before her flight is someone I met at the conference.
If it is her, we sat together Sunday morning on the short bus ride from our resort to watch the sunrise over Lake Tahoe with the other women attending.
I remember we had a lovely conversation sharing our circumstances and hopes for the future.
But I can’t remember her name. It had still been dark on the bus. And our conversation had only lasted about ten minutes.
Is this even her?
Maybe, maybe not.
I decide to let it go. I stay quiet. Because even if it is her, I don’t have to speak. We only met once, after all.
I eat a few more bites of my biscuit.
But the feeling keeps gnawing at me.
The Smallest Shift
Finally, I stand up. I walk over. I ask, “Were you at the conference last weekend at Lake Tahoe? I think we chatted together.”
And amazingly, she says yes!
It is the same woman.
She doesn’t remember my name either. (And honestly, I’m not sure she remembered much from our earlier conversation.)
But it doesn’t matter. We’re connecting now.
We spend a few minutes talking about our takeaways from the weekend, and before long, she asks if we can exchange contact information.
She tells me she’ll have very little support when she returns home.
I gladly give her my information and take hers.
This stranger now feels like a new friend.
Brave Doesn’t Always Look Big
I’m so glad I spoke up.
Ten minutes earlier, the decision had felt huge before I acted on it. My overthinking made it complicated. Awkward. Risky.
But it really only required a small shift: from sitting to walking. From silence to a question.
And because of that small shift, a new connection was formed. We’ve since emailed each other and will set up up a video chat soon.
More often than we realize, life offers us moments like these. Tiny invitations to move a little closer instead of pulling away. To risk being vulnerable instead of choosing safety.
Not every brave moment changes your life.
But sometimes it changes your day. And someone else’s too.
And sometimes, that’s all it takes to make a new friend.
My One Word of the Year is Shift. And my focus this month is on shifting relationships.
Who’s the newest friend who’ve made? Have any other relationships shifted lately?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
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How I love this story here, Lisa! Yes, it’s so true – sometimes the smallest gesture of kindness toward another can change our lives for the better. You are truly finding wonderful ways to be inspired by your word for the year.
Blessings!
Thank you, Martha. I think we’ve all been touched by someone who has shown us kindness in ways that seemed small to them, but big to us! We want to keep passing it on.
I tend to overthink in those situations, too. And too often, I have talked myself out of making contact. Once my husband and I were in a restaurant where a couple was eating near us. I knew the woman from my prayer group in college. She was distinctive–she was Lebanese, and we prayed much for her family in the midst of the conflict in that country at the time. But that had been several years earlier. After wrestling with whether I should say something to her, I finally did as we were leaving. She didn’t remember me. 🙂 But I was still glad I made the effort–otherwise I would always have wondered if I should have.
I wouldn’t want to see a tally of how many times I did NOT speak up compared to how many times I did. The “did nots” would outweigh the “dids” I’m sure. So when I do–and it actually turns out well–I want to remember it. How wonderful that you did speak to the woman in your prayer group, even though she didn’t remember. Who knows if a day later she did remember! Yes, no regrets on your part for speaking to her. We rarely hear what happens next in those cases.
I’ve also had several instances of speaking to someone only to have it not be the person I thought it was. But aside from being very embarrassed, the other person usually doesn’t mind. 🙂
My newest friend?? YOU!!!!!!!!
I’m so glad I linked to your blog from *somewhere*. I have no clue how now. But look where your writing and my commenting has gotten us? Wow.
And by the way, thank you for the WONDERFUL retro card and endearing, encouraging note you wrote to celebrate my beautiful mother! She opened it today and read it to me and was so honored (as am I). Now it sits atop her baby grand with other delightful b/day greetings. I can’t thank you enough AND for asking if you could stop by on your drive-through.
muchlove
Lynni
I am so very glad too that your sweet comments led to one thing then another then another…until meeting in person! It will always be a highlight to me that I got to visit you in your own home setting and got to meet your precious husband and daughter. You are an amazing person, Lynn.
I’m glad your mother received her card! How was her birthday? I’m so moved by the love and admiration that you have for her. You are a mother’s dream. I get so much joy hearing the special stories you share about your mom. Happy Birthday to her and much love to you! ❤️
This is such a kind thing to say, not just about our wonderful and serendipitous visit (who could have dreamed of it?), but your lovely words about me, as a daughter. If there is anything worthy at all, I assure you it’s she who has instilled values in me and shared *her* gifts so generously. How I wish your visit could have included her. She’s really starting to struggle now, yet amazingly, ever cheerful.
I’ll email you her poem and my poem to her (a spin-off of sorts from a poem she wrote in the 60s). She reacted so affirmatively, and it is one of my sweetest memories.
xo
L
Yes, please do email me her poem and your poem! What a special relationship you have had with your mother!
Oh and her b/day was wonderful. She was exhausted after all the visitors, but a good kind of tiredness. And there are beautiful cards on her piano. Thank you for realizing how special she is and for honoring her.
xo
L
Good for you! I loved reading this story. It’s so true that sometimes a small shift and a bit of courage can make all the difference.
Isn’t it amazing that sometimes it doesn’t take much courage to make a difference, yet I’m often so reluctant at first. One day I’ll learn to act earlier instead of later. 🙂
yes yes to courage. courage for both of us to apply and grow in our words of the year. Wonderful self awareness, noticing the shift within you. I like how you name it – tiny invitations. That show real sensitivity to your own heart and the heart of others… Inspiring
Thank you, Jean. I appreciate your example in learning more about and practicing courage – I learned so much from you last year through your word.
Good thing you spoke up. I’m generally pretty chatty except with strange men, too many weirdos, serial killers and child molesters around to take a chance.
I agree with you that we do have to be discerning of who we’re chatty with. Thankfully in this scenario I had nothing to do lose but some embarrassment if it turned out I had misidentified my friend.
This is lovely! My newest friend is Jane, who I met through volunteering at the Community Centre. She was the keyholder on a Monday afternoon and I was her volunteer doing the front desk work, and I think I got things going by admitting I was very nervous about doing an office job, with other people, after 14 years working for myself! She was a friend of a friend and runs a little second-hand bookshop locally, so I had met her before, but we’ve really bonded during our slightly random afternoons, and now we’re not going to be working together (I have graduated into being a keyholder and we’re now sharing her shift) we have a firm plan to turn it into a coffee. In fact, I’m popping round to see her this evening as we have almost no users in so she’s just working for a couple of hours.
Thank you, Liz, for sharing about Jane! I love stories like this. One thing leads to another to another. I hope you do get that coffee with her and that it’s the start of a meaningful friendship. You obviously have things in common already by both choosing to volunteer at the Community Centre.
I am proud of you for taking a chance. I probably would have just kept wondering and moved on. You, my friend, made the better choice!
One Word 2026 – May
Thanks, Barb. Sometimes we take the brave option; sometimes we don’t. 🙂 Thankfully we usually get more opportunities to try again even if we pass one by.
I’m glad you decided to speak up, Lisa. Whether or not you stay in regular touch with your new friend or not, you made a difference in her life that day for sure.
Thanks, Lois. Through the years I’ve found that I’m almost always glad when I speak up. But my first instinct is still not to. I don’t know if that initial reaction will ever fade, but at least I’m learning to bypass it for the greater good more times than before.
I love those moments that we listen to the “nudge” and go for it, and then often get a very good story that can last a lifetime. You’ve encouraged me to get me to be braver in creating new connections, even if it just ends up a short conversation that leads to a smile or a chuckle of laughter.
I agree that even those small moments are worth our going for it. Not everything has to have huge payoffs. Something small is still satisfying. Thanks, Lynn.
Great move on your part. If we want to have solid relationships in our lives, we have to make those tiny moves to make it happen. We never know which ones will bloom fully. Well written, Lisa. 🙂
You’re right that we never know which small gestures will pay off unless we take the risk. I’m working on it. 🙂 Thanks, Marsha.
I love this Lisa. You’re right sometimes all it takes is a small shift to make a connection and a new friend.
It’s amazing how something so small can make a difference, but I know it has for me too in the past. Thanks, Paula.