I think this is something many of us overlook, our opportunities to influence other people in our daily life.
I know I bump into strangers, and like you I tend to not start the conversation, but some people are ready for a little chat. Especially when I'm packing my baby around haha.
I used to basically mindlessly small talk to try and get it over with as quickly as possible, but not I just try to hear what the other person is saying and see where I can either be a positive influence in my attitude or in some small piece of information.
Part of me is turned off from giving advice anymore because my advice isn't very standard at all and some people are taken aback. But really it seems like our job almost after reading this, like you said, we all pick things up at different rates, we all discover things at different times, maybe that is the greatest strength of humanity, the ability to share knowledge we've taken away from experience.
Perhaps it might be worth contemplating and exploring - through different approaches - the distinction between giving advice and more casually, sharing perspectives.
Advice... it may be natural to get some resistance - especially if it's not outright asked for - as there's something about it that seems like a directive, often imbued with some degree of assumptions and judgement, given we rarely know the full scope of a person's situation and what precisely they need to get to their intended goals.
Merely sharing perspectives - offering a differing point of view for the sake of exploration, perhaps with an invitation for a person to try it on for themselves and see what's there that may be of value to them - it's a whole different ballgame...
Well put, this is a distinction we should all take note of, I will keep this in mind in my interactions with people. Thanks @rok-sivante