Brian Johnson shares a moment in a hotel elevator after his son Emerson's chess tournament, where a family enthusiastically thanked him for posting about it. He argues that small, genuine celebrations with strangers matter more than we think, and that putting down our phones to connect with people around us creates ripples of goodwill.
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another Heroic Plus One. In our last batch of Plus Ones, we've been exploring wisdom practiced out in the wild at chess tournaments with the kids. We're going to continue that exploration. I'm typing this in the car while Emerson sits next to me. He's prepping for the opponent he'll be playing in 15 minutes. He now has a quick system to find his opponent's style and figure out how he wants to approach the match. It's awesome. Now, we just drove from the hotel. We met a wonderful family on the elevator down. Today, I was the recipient of all of the Love 2.0 celebratory love I try to give to others. It was awesome. And it reminded me of just how powerful of a practice it is. Here's the scene. We hold the elevator door open for a family to join us. The mom comes in, then 2 kids, then grandma. Now, grandma says her luggage is super heavy because they have so much stuff in it. I joke that we move in when we check into a hotel. She asks why we're in town, which is the question I had planned to ask her because it's such a great conversation starter. Emerson says a chess tournament, and she lights up with the most authentically awesome Love 2.0 interest you can imagine. She says, really? A chess tournament? Wow. Then we have a wonderful chat about chess. Then the mom tells me about her son who is into technology. And Emerson and I have a chance to celebrate him and the fact that he's going to the national championships for an awesome competition. And that's today's plus one. When you're out and about today, put your phone away, exit your cocoon of self-absorption, and connect with another human being. Find out something about them, celebrate them, create a micro moment of positivity resonance, and send good micro ripples of connection out into the world today.
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