A neighbor of mine died recently. He was a friendly outgoing person.  If we were both outside at the same time we would chat, mostly small talk.  In the winter, if he saw my driveway was un-shoveled, he would come over and use a snowblower to clear it.  When our driveway was getting re-done two summers ago, he invited us to park our cars in his driveway. You get the picture. He was a nice guy always willing to help you out if he could. You probably know some people like that.

He and I had talked a few times of going out to dinner some evening, he and his wife together with my wife and me. It would be just something fun to do to get to know each other better, perhaps develop a stronger friendship. My wife and I talked of inviting them over for dinner or perhaps board or card games. 

For whatever reason we never did go out to eat with them or have them over for games. Now, I take a lot of the responsibility for not getting together with them. I am a bit of an introvert. Some of you can probably identify with that. Still, I wish I had pushed past my feelings of uncomfortableness. My wife and I had the best of intensions, but life is busy and we never made time. I guess in the back of my mind I always thought there would be time, somewhere in the future. Perhaps, when it got warmer out, or after the New Year. Sadly in my case later never came.

I regret not getting to know him better. I am sure my life would have been more enriched, perhaps he would have benefitted from knowing me better as well. So, this got me to thinking:  how many people in my life have I been putting off getting to know better? How many people have I been thinking I will have more time later, in the future, to develop a better friendship with?

That leads to my question or perhaps challenge: who in your life should you schedule a lunch or dinner with to get to know them better? Maybe it is a co-worker, or a neighbor, or someone you know in your community. Share an experience where you pushed yourself past your normal boundaries to connect with someone new.