When I was at the University of Georgia living in the dorm, Stefan Montillot lived across the hall from me. Stefan, who was from Paris, France was a very nice guy who couldn't speak much English - and I really did't speak much French. He kinda resembled a blonde James Dean and was ALWAYS smoking. Everyone in France smokes - right? No bid surprise there, but Stefan was ALWAYS SMOKING. I even found him in the shower smoking...YES WHILE HE WAS SHOWERING HE WAS SMOKING !! While he shaved, he smoked. While he studied, he smoked. While he drank, he smoked.
I always try to be as nice as possible to people new to this country and who may feel a bit of a culture shock, So we would hang out from time to time and struck up a friendship.
Every afternoon I would go for a run across campus that would vary in length from 4 to 8 miles. Every day as I stepped out of my dorm room I would envite the non-athletic, chain smoking Parisian to join me, even though I knew he would NEVER take me up on it. "No thank you, I'll see you when you get back", Stefan would say. This exchange went on every day for months. One day during the hot Georgia spring-time with temps in the 90s and humidity around 90%, I stepped out of my dorm room into Stefan's cloud of smoke and said, "Hey Stefan - I'm going for a run...wanna join me ?" To my shock, Stefan paused a moment, took a drag on his cigarette, and said, "Sure...hang on a second" and crushed out his cig. After months of the open invitation, I was shocked to hear him say YES !
I was wearing nothing but running shorts and running shoes and Stefan was sporting a t-shirt, denim shorts and tennis shoes. Stefan said to me in his heavy French accent as we headed down the stairs, "I don't know how far I can go, but I'll try to keep up with you." I was very impressed that he was actually giving it a shot on what was one of the hottest days we had in weeks.
Well, things started off ok, but about 30 YARDS into my 6 mile run, Stefan started coughing and hacking, but was a trooper and kept shuffling along. I didn't want to ditch the guy and I admired his moxy, so I had to downshifted into what was pretty much a fast-paced walk. About a quarter mile later, Stefan was coughing so uncontrollably, he had to stop...walked about 5 paces and promptly threw up in the bushes. About 3 times he threw up. He appologized and told me to go on without him. I said something to the affect of, "Nope, we'll do it together even if I have to cut the run a little shorter than 6 miles". Stefan's color returned as well as his coughing but that tough little Parisian stuck with it and ground it out.
When we made it back to the dorm - a lot later than I was expecting, but I didn't mind, Stefan thanked me for inviting him. He then collapsed on the bed, in exhaustion.
The next afternoon as I was leaving the dorm on another run, I popped my head in on Stefan and said, "Hey Stefan - I'm going for a run...wanna join me ?". His eyes got as wide as saucers as panic set in. He then cracked a smile and politely declined saying, "No thank you, I'll see you when you get back !".
The point is, Stefan went out and did something he was pretty sure he couldn't complete...but he made the effort. I find that the most difficult thing to do in many situations is to just make the effort...try it. You might just surprise others and yourself.
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