While sitting at Peets Coffee in Pleasant Hill, CA with my daughter, we engaged in a wonderful conversation with a woman. She said she remembered my daughter because of her smile and her laughter. While speaking with her she asked the question: What if everyone smiled at someone they did not know? And what if every day we focused on doing something nice for someone else? We then started to discuss some of the ways we could make a difference in someone’s life in very simple ways:
Pay it forward – if someone does something nice for you, do something nice for someone else.
Open the door for someone – How many times have you held a door open for someone you didn’t know?
Buy someone a cup of coffee – While in line to buy a cup of coffee, someone bought my coffee for me. It made my day!
Pay the toll for someone behind you – The woman we were speaking with said someone did it for her and the next day she did it for the car behind her.
Say hello to someone with authentic sentiment – A genuine heartfelt hello can be more than courteous, it can signal to the receiver that all is right with the world, if only for a few seconds.
Smile at the people you encounter no matter their response – There is a connection that happens between human beings that is hard to verbalize when someone smiles at another. It can be a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.
Let someone behind you in line go ahead of you – If you are in a grocery or bank line, try letting someone ahead of you. They may fall over from shock.
Call a friend that you have not spoken to for awhile to say an encouraging word.
Say thank you - Be gracious when someone does something kind, say thank you.
Give a Hug - Hug every member of your household before you leave or before they leave the house and tell them you love them. Make it a habit!
With all of the negative news and lack of civility in our world today, if each one of us extended some small courtesy, what a wonderful world this would be.
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