A story happened on a Wednesday

On Wednesday, I go to the BSM's lunch on my campus. I just have a 30-minutes lunch, so I usually have to try my best to finish it as fast as I can. I don't want to show up late for class and get embarrassed. Because of that, I barely have the chance to properly make friends with anybody. Most of the time it's just simply, "Hi, how are you?" and that's about it.

This time it was different. I, as usual, was minding my own business when a middle-aged guy showed up with his plate, pulled out the opposite chair, and sat down. My first perception of him is that he was out of the ordinary. He had on a brown and worn-looking jacket, a white undershirt, and an old-fashioned pair of bifocals. His face was out of proportion somehow, and one could not help but noticing a sizable wart on the right of his forehead. It started on top of the eyebrows and went all the way up and got covered by his hair.

As quiet as I was, I didn't say anything. Not that I thought he was too strange to talk to, I was just preoccupied with my own thoughts about things around me. Well, actually, I was too stress to talk to anybody.

And he started talking. Deep, pleasant voice. He asked me where I was from, what I was doing there and such. Then he proceeded to tell me his story. His name is Paul, he's been all over the country and got to talk to people around the world. He told me many, many lively stories about the stars, the earth, snow, rain, etc...It was fascinating, I just don't hear about things like that too often.

All of a sudden, without warning, he disrupted his story telling and told me this, "You know, just remember this, 'determination', 'courage', 'strength' will lead you to success."

I held my breath. This wasn't the first time I heard about these things, but, Why now? Why here? Why did he mention this when it's exactly the same thing that I am worrying about?

I stared at his eyes.

This is exactly what I needed to hear right at this moment.

His eyes were sparkling in the sun light. Perfect shade of blue, unshaken and powerful. I felt a strange vibe is coming on to me. I didn't know what it was, either.

He went on and told me things that elaborated on those 3 things. And I absorbed what he told me like a sponge absorbing water. The notion of "determination, courage, and strength" seems like a cliché nowadays; I hear it too often and sometimes I don't appreciate what they are. It's one thing to say "I'm determined, I'm courageous, and I'm strong." It's another thing to actually believe in it and strive for it. I realized that when Paul revealed it to me, unknowingly on his part. Or maybe knowingly?

The clock hit 12:30. It was time for class. I stood up, pushed my chair back, and thanked Paul. He taught me a lesson. And I learned that strangers have the ability to do that quite often.