#FinCon18: The Right Thing at the Right Time

I was dying.  I had been up late last night and woke in the morning slightly hung over, dehydrated, and exhausted.  A quick look at my watch showed that I would have just enough time to shower before the 8am session on FIRE Bloggers.  I whisked out the door, down the elevator, and into the lobby.  With just minutes to go, I skipped the coffee line to get a good seat.  And I was famished.  My mouth would have watered if I wasn’t so dehydrated.  As my stomach growled, I looked around the room, and then began to feel faint.  Just as consciousness started to fade in and out, Jillian from Montana Money Adventures dropped a container of granola bars in the seat in front of me and reminded everybody to eat.  For me, she was exactly the right thing at the right time.

It didn’t matter that she was one of the featured panelists.  It didn’t matter that she probably had other things on her mind besides the well-being of her fellow conference goers.

She was present and thoughtful.

Empathy

Later after a full breakfast and a good deal of hydration, I ran into Joe from joetaxpayer.com.  Through a rather circuitous path, we came to an incredible story.  It turns out Joe is an empath.  He is sensitive to those around him.

Joe was sitting in the airport one day and noticed a gentleman across the way who appeared to be uncomfortable.  He couldn’t explain how he knew this by looking at him.  He just sensed it.

So Joe walked over and asked the gentleman if he was in distress.  Could he help in some way.

The man perked up and explained how upon sitting in his chair, his pants split open.  He was afraid to get up and frozen from embarrassment.  His next meeting was in a half hour, and he was sure to miss it.

Joe had a solution.

It turns out that he had a pocket sewing kit in his carry on bag that he had filched from his hotel room.  Joe fetched the kit and accompanied the gentleman to the bathroom, and helped him sew up the pants.  Problem solved.

Joe was exactly the right thing at the right time.

Humanity is a Choice

It’s easy to look at these two stories and think that random acts of luck can explain these coincidental moments.  But the truth is much better.

You see, at some point Jillian must have been hungry at a conference and not had a granola bar when she needed one.  So not only did she plan better this time around, but went a step further and worried about the other conference goers that might not have planned appropriately.

Joe didn’t just coincidentally walk up to that gentleman.  He took the time to not only be aware of his surroundings, but also have the courage to approach a complete stranger.

These are not coincidences.  The right thing at the right time doesn’t just show up by chance.

Humanity is a choice.

And this is what I learned today at #Fincon18.