Today after making a meal plan for the week, and attending to some doctor appointments for Mr. Ken, I set off for errands and grocery shopping.
I was about half way into the shopping when I ran into a friend, actually, a high school friend's mom, who is friends with my mom and is by virtue friends with me. Got it? We chit chatted and she said some really wonderful things to me that got me to thinking.
Mainly I am thinking how impactful our actions and words are on others. One of the things she said to me was something on the order of how much she loves to read this blog (and she is truly a loyal spajunkie fan) and even beyond that how in the evening she sits down with her computer and catches up on Facebook...and how she enjoys seeing anything I post because it is happy or silly or uplifting. I am paraphrasing right now but in general that was the gist of the conversation.
That really got me to thinking. You never, ever really know what other people are dealing with in their lives. They might be poised for a magnificent change in the realm of a wedding - a life changing event; they might be on vacation with their significant other; they might be dreaming of a vacation because they can't afford to take the time off to actually have one; they might be dealing with serious medical conditions. The point is, and I do have one, you never really know what other people are going through or how they may view the world from their own paradigm. Maybe they are stressed out, maybe they are unhappyily married, maybe they have a sick child, or maybe they just had a crappy day at work.
Here is the thing. I went and grabbed a bite of lunch today real quick on my way to shopping. I was behind a really lovely woman paying for her lunch at Casa Ole. She smiled at me when I walked up. A big smile, a lovely smile, a have a fabulous day smile. She further approached the cashier and said "hey - how are you this wonderful day?" The cashier actually looked up, and responded "oh, not good, sick of work." No smile, no consideration of the gift that was given by the customer to make her day better. The lovely woman with the smile just said, "I'm so sorry I hope your day gets better" and gave her a megawatt smile. I have to admit at this point I'm happier just standing next to this woman with the smile and I'm super unhappy with the cashier. I mean, isn't part of her job to be NICE to customers? I decided to follow the lead and I also smiled widely and said cherrily "how is your day" to the cashier. She didn't even answer me...but in all honesty I felt better having just thrown it out there.
The point, and I have the same one, choose nice....choose a smile...choose to just make someone's day happy. Because you just never know what the person you are encountering is going through outside of the realm you may encounter them in.
I have to say if even one single thing I posted on Facebook made my friend from high school/my mom's friend/my friend too smile or be happy, that was a super good day for me. In return today she in further conversation said to me ..."you are so accomplished." I don't think she has any idea the impact that sentence had on me and how it changed my entire paradigm for the afternoon. It made me feel happy ... and accomplished!
There were several encounters and conversations that really made my day today and I thank all of those who offered them freely. It really made my day and my week.
Words can be kisses, they can be arrows. Sentences can be hugs, they can be bullets to the heart. Let's practice kisses and hugs. Truly it makes the world go round. Trite, maybe. I don't care though. Practice random acts of kindness, you will be so surprised at the results.
Much love, kisses and hugs to all of you, and especially my friends who made my day whole, spajunkie
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