“Life is About Sharing”

I love listening to others. Their stories, insights, opinions, experiences. Sometimes you’ll hear something that strikes you so perfectly that you must spread the word. Whether it be a joke, deep conversation, uplifting song, or mortifying experience.

I’ve lived in Costa Rica just over a week now and I have been struck with this desire to share such an encounter. It was a simple statement, but a statement that resonated in me and caused me to reflect. I’ll back up to pre Costa Rica so please be patient. Here we go…

Do you ever have strong intuitive feelings about a person based off essentially nothing? Something about them radiates positive vibes and for some reason you know things will be OK. I am a true believer that good people attract good people. I also believe that if you are a hard worker and are diligently searching for something, (even if you don’t quite know what that something is) opportunity will present itself.

Such is the case so far in Costa Rica.

Before I even got on the plane I knew I was going to be surrounded by good people. I had exchanged a few Facebook messages with my future roommate and although we mainly talked logistics I knew that I was dealing with a genuine person and that we were going to get along. My confirmation of that came after we Skyped, we talked for 1.5 hours without hesitation. He mainly was giving me advice so my culture shock would be minimized and we laughed at some strange similarities between our families:

“I’m from New York.”

“Cool, my mom is from Brooklyn.”

“My mom is from Brooklyn! She’s 1 of 7.”

“My mom is 1 of 7!”

Small world. Needless to say we kicked it off strong right away.

Fast forward to one week ago.

Day 1 in Costa Rica. Scratch that, more accurately Hour 1 in Costa Rica:

I immediately felt another connection with my landlord. I was extremely sleep deprived when I met him as I had an overnight flight from LA, I walked all day in LA beforehand with my friend, and I only slept about 3.5 hours my last night in Reno. However, my landlord exuded such positive energy and enthusiasm that my lack of sleep suddenly went unnoticed.

He prepared me breakfast and we skipped the small talk. He told me about his amazing tenants, the beauty of Heredia, and how his daughters lived in the US. He glowed when I brought up my time living in Sweden and responded by telling me visiting Scandinavia was his dream. He marveled at pictures I showed him of Sweden and Norway and I return he showed me a picture of food that his former tenant had just sent him. I laughed at this and explained how I admired this relationship and that they enjoyed sharing such little things.

That’s when he said it. With complete wisdom and matter-of-factness he said, “Life is about sharing Katrina.”

Such a simple and powerful choice of words. It resonated in me instantly and seemed to be one of those things that are so obvious you don’t even notice it.

Most things we do or say are related to sharing and we should continue to do so much as possible and in as many ways as possible. It shows our character, allows us to grow, helps others, and creates an environment filled will compassion. Our sharing gestures are deeper elements that we may realize.

When we share a meal we are sharing more than food, but our hard work, our company, and possibly our mad cooking skills or a prayer.

When we share our laughter, joy, and smiles others will reciprocate with their stories and happiness. Together we make new fond memories that we can share later.

So let’s share! As corny and ridiculous it may sound, let’s do it.

Let’s share our knowledge with others to make their lives easier. They will share their questions with us and challenge us to think deeper.

Doesn’t that seem like a beautiful life to lead? Yet we all understand that life is not perfect and is speckled with hardships. Consequently, we must also share our grievances. Share with our friends and family and they will make us realize that we are not alone. They’ll share their support, love, advice, and occurrences of times that they have overcome. Recognize this, however; when we share these grievances we are also sharing our companionship and trust. We’re letting our listeners know that we deem them worthy to partake in our pain in suffering, that we find them a reliable source of healing and that we will be there for them when they feel this way. From this our relationships will grow and bonds will form.

We’re not alone in this world. We are meant to share. Not just as a way to be selfless, but to demonstrate love and kindness while remaining humble. In turn, wonderful people and amazing opportunities will flock toward us. Now share yourself with those around you, you’re worth it.