So How Did I End Up Here?

My friend Bonnie SMS’d me the other day and asked how my Life has been filled with so many adventures, stories of interesting people and such.

I thought about it for a minute and answered with all honesty “I don’t really know”.

But after an interaction today, I have a better answer for her.

I collect these stories and adventures because of something I do purposely …. and accidentally.

I stopped by a coffee shop today to get caught up on emails and happened to notice a couple sitting at a table nearby.

I was struck by a logo on their laptop that said “We <heart> motogeo”.

I was intrigued by this and Googled “motogeo” and found a number of hits that didn’t satisfy my curiosity.

I then Googled “We love motogeo” and voila, I was able to find this interesting site www.welovemotogeo.com and this related project Lost For Good Project, focused on this simple message:

…. serve as means for supporting the people, communities and grass-roots organizations that are creating lasting, responsible and sustainable change within their regions. Our purpose is to help bring attention to these lesser-known endeavours, highlight their work and support them in their goals.

Their primary website tells a story of a couple on a journey – around the world and within their soul.  I realized that the couple who are the inspiration behind these websites were the couple sitting next to me.

Feeling like having a little fun, I tweeted them the following message:

@gomotogeo Looking forward to following your RTW!

Shortly afterward, their reply came back:

@HarryTucker Thanks! Glad to have you along - we're looking forward to getting underway :)

To which I couldn’t resist responding with:

@gomotogeo Hopefully you will have more enjoyable weather than today - although sitting in a coffee shop in the rain has its perks also.

Now if you’re a normal person, you will stop and think “How does this guy know that we are sitting in a coffee shop during a rain storm?”

They quickly deduced that they didn’t have a stalker and that maybe the other guy in the coffee shop is the mystery tweeter and so they waved and asked “Are you Harry?”.

We had a brief but powerful conversation around our common ties (we both lived in the NYC area at the same time), about striving to find one’s purpose, about breaking one’s bonds and doing what one wants to do in life and about making a difference in the lives of others.

I promised to share updates with my extensive network of their upcoming journey around the world via motorcycle and we each resumed our respective work.

As I reflected on this conversation, I realized that I had an answer to Bonnie’s question.

I collect these stories and experiences because I intentionally thrust myself into situations that allow them to be created.

It’s as simple as that.

I don’t intentionally create the experiences.

I intentionally create the circumstance that allows the experience to unfold.

After that, the story just evolves by accident.

Or is it by accident?

Personally, I don’t believe in coincidences. 

Wanted: A Sense of Purpose and the Courage To Follow It

Nita and Issa are examples of people who believe strongly in following their sense of purpose, wherever it takes them.

I think if more of us followed their example, the world would be a better place.

What do you think?

In service and servanthood.

Harry