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Day 17
Talk to 3 Strangers
Ever since many of us were little kids, we were told to never talk to strangers.
While this was done out of a concern for our safety, many men have carried
this mantra over into adulthood. In the United States, we’ve even mythologized
the idea of the strong, silent man that keeps to himself. The reality,
though, is that history’s greatest men were some of its most social. They
were comfortable with anyone, in any situation, and understood the importance
of reaching out to others and expanding their circle of influence.
We are more and more isolated these days. We live in a neighborhood for
decades and never get to know our neighbors. We sit in a pew at church for
years and still know absolutely nothing about the people sitting in front of
us. We don’t know the guys at work who are in a different department than
we are, even though they’re just a few floors up or down.
This lack of social trust is not only bad for our communities, it’s bad
for ourselves as well. So today we’re going to throw off our inner Jeffrey
Dahmer and start up a conversation with people we don’t know…yet.
Why Talk to Strangers
1. Make new friends. We’ve previously discussed the importance of
male friendships. Men who have more friends tend to be happier
and live longer than men who don’t have any good buddies. Many
men, myself included, find making new friends to be a difficult task.
But there are potential friends all around us if we would just get out
of our comfort zone and start talking to some strangers. The dude
who comes into the gym at the same time as you every day? Potential
workout partner. The guy who has an office down the hall from you?