Encounter with a stranger

  
As I type, the sweet aroma of coffee beans fill the air and the chatter of fellow students fighting the good fight of essays and papers surround me. I am sitting down on a suave but comfy dark brown chair at one of my favourite coffee shops sipping on the most delicious blueberry de-caffeinated tea. I just shared over an hour of my study time with a friendly stranger sitting in the chair beside me. He too had his laptop in front of him with his coffee mug situated just to the right of it. It was the wonderful smell of my tea that caught his attention he said. After I removed my head phones from my ears, he then mentioned how good the tea must taste. I confirmed his suspicion and it was then that we entered into our very long conversation. Of course I didn't know it would continue for as long as it did and I suspect he didn't know either; and although we both had work to do, the talk was going so good that it didn't seem to matter. We talked about all sorts of thing; God, the good life, happiness, travel destinations, future aspirations, love and humanity. We were significantly different people. He was a Colombian man, probably in his mid 40s who already has his life together in terms of his career and achieving what he calls happiness. Me, I'm just a 19 year old girl with absolutely no clue where I stand in life or where I am going. My only certainty is the love God has for me which I shared with Him. That was among the many things we talked about. Listening to his perspective of life was definitely a change from the people I surround myself with. I could tell he wasn't very religious, but in many ways he was a good man. He believed in doing good and being kind to others and generous and loving. His career entailed helping others identify their purpose in life as well as developing their future aspirations. I shared how I am in the process of identifying my passions and the type of career I wish to have in the future. He shared a lot of  beneficial information that really helped me organize my thoughts for my future plans. He said that I am at the perfect age to just "stop *he paused* and think." It's amazing how two strangers can have a totally deep and rewarding conversation. I gained knowledge and incite of things I had never known and I hope that I was able to impart some knowledge and a different perspective of life to him.