Your Gratitude Burst – 2010 09 24
“In every area of our lives, we get back what we send out.”
– Marshall Sylver
Just like the old adage states, “What goes around, comes around!” One of the best things about this is that YOU have the opportunity to start this off! YOU can start the cycle of goodness. And it does not have to be something “over the top” and outrageous!
A simple kind word, a heartfelt “Thank you!”, a sentiment of gratitude, or an uplifting smile will never go unnoticed! Come to think of it, do you smile at EVERYONE you see? When you pass people in the hallway, do you look them in the eye and smile? If not, you should do that today! If you do, notice how you feel when they walk by.
One last thing… Don’t worry if they do not smile back. It is not your place to be concerned if they acknowledge you or not. Your smile is your gift to them. Give it freely and without any strings. Try this for at least one day and see what happens! It would be great if you could post a comment of what you experienced!
Be Well.
Paul.
For many years, even as an adult, I felt some low self-esteem that meant that even though I greeted and smiled at everyone I passed, I could not look to see if they smiled back or acknowledged me in any way. Over the years, as I have developed more self-confidence, I love to see everyone’s unique smiling faces, receive greetings, and even strike up conversations with total strangers about mundane or even sometimes amazing topics. Eye contact is another thing I really had to train myself to coordinate. It is a lovely gift to look in someone’s eyes, but can be intimidating if you are feeling ill at ease with yourself. Now I really love to look in people’s eyes — they say that a person’s eyes are a window to their soul!
Carol – what a great story! Thanks for sharing it! Smiling is an easy way to ‘open the door’ to start up a conversation. Last weekend I had a great conversation with a stranger when I was having my car stereo installed. What is the definition of a stranger? A stranger is just a friend that you have not yet met!
Hi Paul! 🙂
I tried this myself, and it totally works!
I’ve got a story to tell.
On February 9, 2010, I wrote an article called “Relax and Enjoy Life” (I’ve linked to it, just click my name.)
Here’s how it started…
I read Brightness, a poem by Carl Watts and then later when I was buying groceries, I noticed people rushing about their everyday errands, not giving anyone the time of day, not smiling, just determined to get their tasks over and done with.
This irritated me. Then I started to realize I was seeing a reflection of what I had put out in the past. And therefore I could change it “out there” only by changing myself. I decided to be unreasonable friendly to make up for lost time.
I wrote:
“If you smile more on a regular basis, you’ll notice people around you smiling more too. Your exter
nal world mirrors your internal one, because – you guessed it – you create the world you “see” in your mind by bringing together all your sensory input and filtering it, taking into account your inner thoughts and memories as well.”
I smiled at everyone, even though it felt weird. And just a few days after writing the article, I found that I tended to talk to even more strangers than usual, and guess what – I went for a walk in my neighbourhood and saw that most people I ran into were happy! There was a father and son playing baseball in the end of a cul-de-sac. There were also few other neighbours hanging around there, all acting quite cheerful.