Changing The World - A Smile At A Time

I think that there are a number of practical ways I can change the world by being myself and using today. Changing the world can't be left as an abstract ambition high up in the starry heights of the sky. Quite the contrary. If you really want to change the world then you have to get right down among the nitty-gritty details of live. You have to get your hands dirty. You have to act.

So many times I have heard people saying that a smile costs nothing to give but is a treasure to receive. So that's what I have started doing. It is such a small thing to do and really doesn't take up much time. If I'm in a big rush that day and flying from place to place doing errands, then smiling at people is a way you can change the world just a little every time you do it.

I've started meeting the eyes of old ladies who pass me in the street and giving them a big cheerful smile. Sometimes I get met by a blank stare or a look which plainly says how much of an idiot they think I am. One occasion I remember well. I was walking past a small, frail old lady who was walking slowly along, looking sad. I met her eyes and smiled cheerfully and the transformation I then watched has been enough to carry me through all the blank looks and sneering faces I have continued to receive, in the hopes that even if I don't know it, a stray smile will warm someones heart and brighten someones life, even if just for a few minutes. The lady straightened her back, lifted her head and beamed at me before walking on past me. I wasn't just smiling at a passing stranger - I was sharing a glad moment with a fellow human being.

Someone else to smile at is the person behind the counter. So often I'm in hurry, or the person behind me in the line is getting impatient, so I just stuff my receipt in my purse, grab my shopping bags and rush out of the store without a backwards glance. What kind of a thank-you is that for the man or women who just spent time serving you? So now I smile at the person who has just served me, or directed me to the part of the store from which I need to get something. Some of them just look grumpy, but some of them smile back. But maybe later in the day, the person who looked grumpy will smile at someone else!

Smiling at the people who you live with almost always has an immediate reward! Smiling at your family is really no trial at all! Smiling at your family will just bring an extra little bit of sunshine into the house and make the day brighter. Sometimes my sister and I will have an impromptu smiling match! She will smile at me, so I'll smile back, she will keep smiling and so will I, so we will carry on smiling at each other until one of us collapses in laughter, at which point we then laugh until we run out of breath. Now that is fun!!

When you're walking past someone today - smile. If they scowl back, smile extra hard at the next person. You may never know if they appreciate it, but I'm sure that one of your smiles will brighten someones day. If you are brightening someones day, then you are changing the world. A smile at a time.