There was a time in my past when I was bored with life and played games all day because they showed me a more interesting adventure that I wasn't finding in life. But, then I realized something, and I didn't realize it on my own either, because I had a conversation with my friend, and he told me something that completely shifted my perspective on life, and I questioned what I was doing all those years before, because now that I can see this, I realize life has the most interesting things in the world, and they were right in front of me this whole time…
Imagine three different, independent people: Jasmine is an artist who loves to see and create beautiful pictures from her imagination, Mark is a mechanical engineer who enjoys building and assemble real things that can be held and used, and Sean is an entrepreneur who lives to help people understand the true value of things to improve their lives.
One day, Jasmine finally finishes one of her biggest art projects that took months of her time and effort to refine and perfect, and when she had finally decided it was complete, seeing her work in front of her, she felt incredibly accomplished.
For Mark, he was walking back to his house when he saw a yard sale by a woman who looked like her head was in the clouds, and Mark noticed a huge painting the size of a refrigerator that was an image of something Mark had never seen before. He liked it so much he decided to build something like it and bought the painting from the woman for $150, and after days of using his engineering skills designing and redesigning from the giant painting, with his tools and materials, he created something usable, and holding it in his hands and playing around with it, he felt amazing having brought this painting from picture to reality.
Sean, however, was in a different place. He was helping both his friend and a group of youth through some tough times in their lives. His friend was drinking his life away and he thinks he's always letting down his girlfriend who he lives with, because he feels nothing comes out of his work enough to support them financially, but when he told Sean about one of his projects, Sean had an incredible idea. You see, the group of youth Sean was helping were kids who have been in accidents and are now paraplegic, and the project Sean's friend told him about was a prototype powered exoskeleton that someone can wear on their arms and legs, and it uses switches on the gloves to control the leg sections, giving people a boost when they need it, or what Sean had in mind, to help paraplegics walk again.
Sean asked his friend if he wanted to create a company with him, and his friend said "Yes. Of course, this is awesome!". He also asked if his girlfriend could also be a part of it because he said she gave him the idea to create it in the first place, and Sean said "The more creative people we have on board, the better". Sean shared this idea with the organizers of the paraplegic youth support group, and they loved it. They tested the prototype with one of the kids, and as soon as the kid lifted his finger, his leg started moving. It worked. The kids were amazed, the organizers jaws dropped. The organizers of the group said they could put them in touch with several paraplegic groups, physical therapists who work with paraplegics, and even a hospital director! Sean and his friend's excitement grew even more. Sean said to his friend "This is going to be incredible, Mark", and Mark replied "You're amazing, Sean. Thanks for bringing me and Jasmine into this. It's going to be awesome!"
You see, some weeks after Jasmine finished her months-long project, which was a refrigerator-sized painting, she couldn't afford where she was currently renting, so while she was looking for a place to move, she put together a yard sale with her painting as one of the items. As Jasmine sat in her yard, she was imagining what it would be like to be a famous artist whose paintings are appreciated and bring joy to people's lives. Interrupting her, a man approached her and said "This painting is incredible. Where did you find it?" to which she replied "Thank you! I painted it myself. It took me 6 months". "You made this beautiful painting yourself?", he asked. Jasmine blushed and looked down and to the right, hiding her chin inside her shoulder, "...yeah". She wasn't only surprised by his comment, but was thinking that she was only imagining her art being appreciated, and then suddenly he shows up. She thought it couldn't be by chance. He said "I'd like to bu—", "What's your name?", Jasmine asked suddenly. "Oh, I'm sor—", "Mark", he replied. Jasmine blushed and looked down again, before looking back up. “Hi, Mark”.
That's how Jasmine and Mark met. Mark saw the value in Jasmine's beautiful art, Sean saw the value in Mark's invention based on Jasmine's art, and all of them realize more of their own value, and also begin to understand the value they all share, working together into the future.
Even if I’m not currently seeing the value and connection in things, people, and myself, that doesn’t mean it isn’t there.