Never forget that the people around you are much more like you than you have ever imagined.

Talk to people, even if you don't know them. You will find that people like it when someone who is sincere and non-threatening talks to them.

I was at Costco recently and was sitting in the area with tables for eating things and there was a woman there in her late 80's, sitting there by herself eating one of those incredible $1.50 ice cream bars. Well, those things are worth $10. You can't buy one anywhere else that I even know of. So I asked her if it was a good deal. Well, yes, it is, she said. Within 5 minutes she had disclosed to me that not only did she visit Costco every month to enjoy one of those but that she was the widow of a General in the US Army and had lived in about 8 different countries over the past 60 years. She had an incredible pension, children & grandchildren all over the place, and until recently spent 2 months of every year going anywhere in the world she damn well wanted to visit. I could have sat there and listened to her until sunrise the next day. I may never see her again but she very much enjoyed telling me just a few highlights of her life, sharing them with me.

I am 63 and have quite an interesting life myself, but I didn't even try to interrupt her in our 'discussion'. I want you to know this - if you talk to people, especially people you don't know - once in a while you will be very pleasantly surprised what they will share with you. A side of life you never imagine existing awaits you, and you will be the better for it.