“You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”
— Benjamin Mee

I attended a lecture on love last night. Not the romantic kind, but the pure, platonic sort: being kind and nice to others, taking a genuine interest in them, that kind of thing. A lot of what was discussed was rather pointless, really, but the speaker told a tale about his friend, George, that I can't stop thinking about. The gist of it went like this:

Every morning, on his way to work, George stopped at a cafe to get a cup of coffee and a donut. Every morning he went, seeing the same people, yet each coffee-drinker and donut-eater stayed in their own little bubble, never bothering to speak with anyone else. After about a month and a half, George had had enough. He climbed up on a chair, cleared his throat, and loudly proclaimed, "I've been coming here every morning for six weeks, and for six weeks, I've been coming with the same people. But I don't know a single soul! That's just plain silly, and there's no excuse for it! I'll start. My name's George and I'm a pastor." One by one, everyone in the coffee shop went around, telling a little bit about themselves. And just like that a community was formed, because one person had twenty seconds of courage and a heart of love.

Now, I'm not exactly the type to go stand on a chair in a crowded coffee shop to introduce myself, but there's somethin' to that story, ya know? Makes you think about all the little things you can do to make a difference...the little things that add up to big things...the things that can be accomplished with a little bit of vulnerable bravery.