In today’s world of technology it seems that we don’t have ample opportunity to get personal. Life is fast-paced and everyone seems to be in a rush. We’re out to dinner with friends or family and we have to “check in” on our social presence. We spend long hours on the computer or mobiles doing this and that. Even at work, we email the person in the cubicle a couple feet away instead of walking over to have a conversation.
Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE tech. I can’t imagine where I’d be without it. Computers have been a part of my life since I was 12 or 13 years old. BUT with that history I’ve seen how humans are becoming strangers to one another. People are in a hurry to get on with the business of living and walk past each other on the street without even a nod.
In certain parts of the country if you utter good morning to someone, you might as well have three heads and a tail, the way they look at you.
Have you ever been standing in a line somewhere and someone turned and smiled at you? Prior to that smile you probably felt anxious; you may have been in a hurry, tapping your foot in impatience. You weren’t very happy to be there waiting in line. Then you get a smile from the person in line. Tell me you didn’t smile back. You do so without giving it thought, as though it is a natural inclination to reciprocate the smile.
Think about it, don’t you feel compelled to smile back when someone smiles at you? Doesn’t it lift your mood, and bring you out of a frustrated frame of mind? But that smile does so much more than that. It makes you feel accepted and liked. Somebody cares, and shares the things you go through.
There is power in the smile. Sometimes a conversation is started and now the mundane drudgery has actually become an enjoyable experience. You no longer feel frustrated and rushed. The world is now warm and fuzzy instead of cold, fearful and nasty.
I’m not saying that giving and receiving a smile is the solution to the world’s problems, but it is a very good place to start. We all need to feel that sense of belonging. We are after all members of the same human family. We should feel moved to embrace each other in our hearts and minds.
So go on and smile. I dare you. Your smile might just make someone’s day.
