Just Reach Out

 

 

When I was in Young Women’s in Bountiful it was during the 150 year anniversary of the Young Women’s Organization and church leaders challenged girls and leaders to set a goal called “My 150” and choose to do something associated with the number 150 whether it was give 150 compliments, index 150 names, read 150 chapters of scriptures, the list could go on and on. For my goal I decided to try to have 150 meaningful conversations with people and write down their names if I knew/remembered them. My list contained names of friends, family, neighbors, and also titles like cashier at grocery store, woman at produce section in Smith's, etc. I tried to be more aware of opportunities to start conversations and see if I could spot the way they brightened the lives of others and my own. Most importantly I decided that if a name popped into my mind as I went about my day I’d reach out and shoot them a text, even if I hadn’t spoken to them in months or years. After all the worst thing that could happen is they don’t have the same number or never respond. I had lots of really cool experiences and it was so interesting to see how often when I’d shoot someone a text I would receive a response back that said something like “I was just thinking about you and have been meaning to reach out.” I don’t think that any of my conversations were earth-shattering but I like to think they added a little more light into people’s days.


I decided to continue the goal this year as I set my resolutions and for the year 2022 set a goal to have 222 meaningful conversations with people and write down their names if I knew/remembered them. With the experiences I had with my 150 goal I was excited and determined to meet my goal but also trust in the promptings of names that come to mind and reach out as soon as the thought came to me so I didn’t forget. Again I’ve been blessed to have several sweet experiences where I know for a fact it brightened someone’s day. And it always brightens mine. Jaden always jokes around with me that I have “lots of pen pals,” which is true! And I love it! I think technology is a double edged sword but I love the way it is so easy to reach out to someone in genuine care, support, concern and love.

And actually when Morgann wrote me for months and months on my mission that I needed to date Jaden one of the things I remember her saying was that Jaden was really good at checking in with her and Elijah and not just texting but actually calling on the phone. Jaden is definitely very good about calling and FaceTiming people and talking to them one on one. He FaceTimes at least one of his siblings once a day and frequently reaches out to his parents and friends as well. He is a good example of reaching out and I’ve said before but I was very impressed with the way he went out of his way to speak to people especially workers at gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores anywhere we went. And he still does.  


So with all of this in mind I’ve tried to be more aware of people that come to mind and more aware of my surroundings as I go on errands and interact with people at church and different places we venture out to. One day at the beginning of February I had a name pop into my mind of a girl that I went to school with at the U. We had second year Spanish together and would go to class together and then walk up to our next classes together. That was pretty much our only interactions was just a couple of hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We often talked about hanging out outside of school or going on a double date with our husbands but it never happened. We graduated around the same time and kept in touch off and on but I hadn’t spoken to her for months and months. A couple of years ago I might have been worried about “well will she think it’s weird if I randomly reach out?” But I’ve long since gotten over that because I’ve come to realize that very rarely does anyone get offended or weirded out when you tell them you’ve been thinking about them and hope they are doing well. I know hearing that always makes my day!

So I decided to reach out, and come to find out I learned that she was living in Louisville, Kentucky right in Bridger’s mission while her husband goes to medical school. She said she was working remotely for a company in Salt Lake on their customer service team and was enjoying it but also knew it wasn’t something she wanted to do long term. And then we talked about church, and life since college and how crazy it was that we were both on the other side of the country and that we never thought we would be living in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. It was great to hear from her and I was glad I reached out.

Well fast forward just a few weeks later, I’m in the middle of studying for a finance exam, we’d just signed on two new clients at work and things are absolutely crazy. One day I’m talking with Major on the phone and he asked if I knew of anyone that would be a good fit to hire on our team. He had mentioned to me this same thing several times over the course of my time at Flywheel but suddenly clear as day Gretchen my friend from the U’s name came to mind. I told him a little bit about her and that we had recently reconnected and that I thought that if she was interested she would be a really good fit. He was all for it. 

 So I texted Gretchen again and asked her if she was actively searching for a job and sent her some info and our website and told her to talk it over with her husband and if she was interested we could FaceTime and I could answer any questions and then setup a time for her to meet with Major. It was so crazy because I feel like I was so stressed with school that it really never concerned me if she would be a good fit or not. I had full confidence that if she was interested in making a switch she would be a great addition to our team. And lucky for us she was interested and decided to join the Flywheel team.

I’m in no way trying to take credit for any of this, but it was another testament to me that I will never regret reaching out when someone comes to mind. It was important to me that I let Gretchen know that when I had originally reached out it wasn’t because I was scouting for a new hire, it was out of genuine friendship and concern of how she was doing. As we discussed this she said to me that she had said to her husband that it was “serendipitous” that I reached out when I did and then later extended this opportunity. I just think it’s the greatest feeling in the world to know you got to have a hand in helping someone. I cannot wait for her to start working with us and that we get to keep in touch a lot more regularly now!

Peaches:

• Going and getting barbeque at a cute bbq venue in the Lawrenceville neighborhood
• Watching Jaden eat Tanner's leftover chicken and waffles, can't let a single waffle go to waste!
• We rode with Tanner and Amanda to dinner and on our way over to Taylor and Keile's to play games after dinner we passed a cool looking castle gate to a cemetary and Tanner was like let's go through it so we did. It really is so cool how much older this part of the country is. There are some really neat cemeteries around. 
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• Tracking down baby pictures for our upcoming family history event where people have to guess who each baby picture is.I didn't have any of us as tiny babies so they might seem kind of obvious but we'll give people a couple of easy answers
• The leaves are returning and things are greening up again!
• Made fruit pizzas for Sunday dinner
• Got to meet Keile's mom at Sunday dinner. No baby yet due date is May 3!
• Finally used my Millie's gift card the girls got me for my bday
• Mom flies in next week to spend mothers day with us!!!
  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pits:

• Barebeque at the bbq place wasn't very good
• Trying to decide whether or not to go to DC when mom flies in next week 
• My grandparents are getting sick and being hospitalized more regularly than any of us like to see
  

Lessons Learned:

• Just reach out!
• You'll never regret following a prompting and being kind 
• Millie's ice cream never disappoints