smile at someone

this post made me smile. lol. i wanted to pass it on to my readers ...

smiling at strangers is contagious, free, and may brighten their day and yours! 

check out this post on the deva life ...

http://thedevalife.com/smile-at-someone/

by JASMIN on MARCH 17, 2014 · 

Lately I’ve been hearing about so many people practicing random acts of kindness like paying for the coffee for the person behind them in line, or even for the next ten people behind them in line. Those stories make me smile. I like that people are doing this and spreading the word about it. I caught myself wanting to do it today but then I chickened out. I all of a sudden felt shy and at the last minute didn’t do it. I wasn’t ready to break out of that comfort zone. So I found something else I could give, something free and easy. A smile.

So I decided to smile or say hi to the next 5 people I walked past. I was lucky because I am in Florida right now and people here seem to be much more inclined to smile and say hi anyway. Maybe it’s the sunshine and warm weather? Maybe lots of vitamin D makes people friendlier? Anyway I ended up saying hi to 15 people on my morning walk and they all said hi or good morning and smiled back. 15 beautiful smiles. Great way to start the day.

Back home in Toronto I might say hi to one person a week if even! Why? Why do we walk down the street so wrapped up in our own crap that we so often don’t notice the people around us and the opportunity we have for a brief connection?

You never know how a smile or a few kind words can possibly change someone’s day in a small way. After that walk I felt good, and really happy ( not only because I was walking down a sunny, palm tree lined street instead of on ice and snow in the freezing cold) I realized with each hello and each good morning I left smiling and so did the person who said it back.

Simple, easy and so often overlooked.

 That little moment of Namaste – acknowledging the light in a stranger walking down the street.

So as an experiment I’m asking you to give it a try. The next time you are out walking try actually looking at the people you walk past and smile or say hi.  Or if you go to a regular store or cafe smile at the cashier no matter whether they look happy or cranky. Just do it.Take note of how it makes you feel. Notice the expression on their face too.

Did you feel any different, even for a moment? Do you think you added a dash of good to someone else’s day with a simple good morning? Sometimes it really is just the small acts of kindness that can make a difference.

I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below – let me know if you try the smile experiment or have any other ideas on small ways to make change and bring a bit of light into someone else’s day.

I think I am going to continue this smile experiment for a while. I’ll let you know how it goes.

enabling joy ...

“Sorrow prepares you for joy. It violently sweeps everything out of your house, so that new joy can find space to enter. It shakes the yellow leaves from the bough of your heart, so that fresh, green leaves can grow in their place. It pulls up the rotten roots, so that new roots hidden beneath have room to grow. Whatever sorrow shakes from your heart, far better things will take their place.” 

― Rumi

last night i was brainstorming with DS about how i could go back to being 3 years old and finding pure  joy and elation just from eating cotton candy. he suggested that i could find a random 3 year old and give them cotton candy, revel in their  joy, and then give them back to their parents for the fallout of all that sugar. i thought it was a funny idea, but not what i was looking for. i wanted to FEEL the  joy myself. and DS said, how about "the  joy of enabling  joy?" 

PAUSE

“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river 

moving in you, a joy.” ― Rumi

i had to think about that. the  joy of enabling joy. 

what brings me  joy? what brings you  joy? for me, it can be singing, or holding a happy baby, or seeing the faces of my children when they master a new skill ... and it occurred to me that in fact most of the times i feel truly  joyful is when i have enabled  joy in someone else. 

“I don't think of all the misery, but of 

the beauty that still remains.” 

- Anne Frank

if anne frank could still find  joy, then who am i to focus on misery?

earlier this year, i had a truly  joyful experience. one that has few words to describe it. i was able to bring a pile of donations to a family in need. i often experience the let-down of giving to someone and having them behave as though they are entitled to what i have given them. but this time it was different. this loving and humble family welcomed us into their home, and experienced pure joy at receiving coats, and scarves, and art supplies. their gratitude was so sincere. their happiness was heart-warming. and their  joy brought me pure  joy. i couldn't stop smiling as their tried on their winter coats, and planned out who would get to keep the markers in which bedroom. 

“Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle. It’s a feeling inside that can hardly be contained.” 

― Terry Pratchett

i found  joy by enabling  joy.

“To get the full value of joy 

you must have someone to 

divide it with.” 

― Mark Twain

DS is onto something. he spoke to me about his work, and how he finds job satisfaction by the unconscious smiles of the people he works with. it reminded me of my own work and the  joy i find through working with others. 

joy: let it fill you. let it wash not over you, but through you. 

i leave you with this thought ...

“Sometimes your joy is the 

source of your smile, but 

sometimes your smile can be 

the source of your joy.” 

― Thích Nhất Hạnh

xoxo

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