Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Weekly Challenge #75

Whoopsie.

I let Sunday and Monday come and go without doing the weekly challenge. I had one in mind. I kept saying in my mind I was gonna post it. Obviously this didn't happen until now.

I had a totally different weekly challenge in mind. I decided to change it based off of some of my experiences yesterday.

With that being said, this week I challenge you to smile at a random stranger. Just because.
Your smile may be the only smile they receive all day.

I'm not talking about one of those fake ones either peeps. I mean a real genuine, heartfelt smile that comes from within.

You never know how much it can brighten a fellow human's day and honestly when you start spreading the love around, I'm pretty sure it will be passed on and will make a difference in how you feel too.

In case you are wondering what inspired this allow me to start with the airport shuttle yesterday at 6:00 AM. My boy Nick saw me pull in and kept a full shuttle waiting for me so I could hop on instead of waiting for the next one to arrive.

Yeah, we're tight like that. As I boarded the shuttle and realized there was no place to sit, I grabbed on to the bars, turned to the gentleman behind me and said, "I'm sorry if I hit you with this. I have no idea how big or far back it goes."

His reply? His reply was to the effect of "I have no comments and I am not going to remark on that statement."

Mmmmkay. I was like whatever dude. I was talking about my backpack on my back and not my bootie. Lighten up already!

I smiled at him until he broke the eye contact and looked away. Three other people on the shuttle laughed right along with me; their laugh was out loud while mine was on the inside.

Arriving at the airport, Nick and I said our goodbyes. He said I made his morning with my smiling self. Aww, how sweet and it got me to thinking.

Then as I passed through the first TSA agent, you know the one who checks your id, I made a little joke about same place, different week and her frown turned upside down. She checked my id last Monday so it was fitting to say.

I just kept it rolling from each checkpoint and interaction I had with folks throughout the day.

The colleague from another part of the country we are working with said we were (work husband) and I were fun to work with. It can be dry subject matter but no reason not to enjoy the time training right? Right.

My smile and "sweet nature" allowed me to make a substitution at dinner that apparently otherwise would have been denied.

When I checked into the hotel and spent a moment asking how the front desk associate's day was going and greeted her with a smile, I could literally see the tension fade away from her face.

Smile y'all. It has the ability to change and influence beyond our awareness.

Peace and Love Peeps.

5 comments:

L said...

If I smiled at a random stranger, I think they would think I was off my rocker lol.

fiwa said...

Imma start calling you sunshine. :)

I like this challenge. Someone made my day with a smile today, so I'm with you, and I'll pass it on.

kimmyk said...

you're so damn pretty.
i'm a big smiler...when idont have food in my teeth that is. (lol!)

did i mention you're pretty? you are. i can see why peeps was hitting on you weeks back...i can't hang with you...LOL!

KathyA said...

I love smiling at people randomly! The most frequent response I get is a quick double take and a smile on the second look -- like it took them a minute to realize someone was smiling at them. My dad used to say you can catch more flies with honey than vinegar. I think he's right!

Live.Love.Eat said...

You're so sweet but not in a cavity sorta way. In a real genuine nice way. And very inspiring too!!!!