An Old Man on a Flight Changed My View on Success

Potential without support is like dynamite without a spark

I board the plane at Heathrow Airport and search for my seat.

When I reach it, I see that it is next to a very old man.

I store my luggage, sit, and say hi to him.

We will be spending hours next to each other, and I believe it is polite to say hi to people next to me on a plane. Unless they have their eyes closed, which tells me they don’t want to speak to anyone.

The old man definitely wanted to speak, because he answered my hi with a line of questions about where I’m from, where I’m going, and what I do.

To be courteous, I asked him back, which was the permission he needed to share with me his whole life story in the 3-hour flight we shared.

What is it about planes that we like so much to tell our stories in them?

It isn’t the first time this has happened to me, but this one I won’t forget because of all the wisdom I learned in those three hours.

His story was touching, inspiring, and as rich as the lives of anyone who has lived almost a century. It isn’t my story to share, but the pearls o…